Laughing At The World
by BenadrylCrumplesack
Summary: Kasey Adams is a sarcastic, sassy, swearing surgeon who's also half Sangheili. Try saying that five times fast. Her Sangheili background comes in handy when the UNSC uncovers a plot to assassinate Thel 'Vadam, which leads to her and Olympia Vale being sent on a mission to save the Arbiter. Going back home was great. The family drama and newfound feelings? Not so much.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note: I own none of the characters or locations other than the ones I have created. The others are all part of the Halo franchise and therefore not my own.**

"So this is the Infinity." I glanced around the loading dock as I left the Pelican with my ODST squad, Echo-Nine, newly assigned as the Infinity's official ODST squad after the last ODST team had been killed during the little incident with an AI gone rogue, some Forerunner technology and the brief threat of the entire galaxy being ruled by computers. It was a crazy couple of months. I'd never been so thankful to have not been promoted as I was during that time period. I was completely fine with being promoted now, especially to the Infinity. Not only did they have two resident psychopaths, the aforementioned AI now afflicted with crippling rampancy and the mad scientist who decided to do human experimentation on a bunch of kids (who also created the aforementioned crazy AI, but that's none of my business), but Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris were currently on the ship too, for however brief a time. What a time to finally make it to ODST. No more crappy deep cover missions. Just dropping from space in pods into life threatening combat situations.

"Are you sure? We could potentially be on the wrong starship." Christy, who'd been with me in some way shape or form since basic training, mumbled sarcastically under her breath.

"Jamison, we're all trying to enjoy the moment here. Shut up." Major Eleanor Fabian, our team leader, clearly didn't appreciate what Christy thought was some brillian sarcasm.

"Sorry sir." Christy mumbled again.

Fabian shook her head and turned to the rest of us, all ten of us, who had gotten off the Pelican with her. "Alright, Echo-Nine. You're here on the Infinity. This is the most important star ship in the UNSC. Why? Because of the personnel we currently have on board. And that personnel doesn't include you."

Fabian thought herself a comedic genius, but her jokes were worse than Christy's most of the time. But she's the boss, so we have to laugh. She probably milks that for all its worth, since she never makes terrible jokes in front of people she's not in charge of.

"Right now, we've been assigned here to help if something comes up. We've had reports that the Servants of the Abiding Truth have started riling things up on Sanghelios again, so we may end up deployed if shit hits the fan there."

Those fuckers. Not again. I hated the Servants so much. They stirred up so much shit up back home, including trying to assassinate my Arbiter.

I grew up on Sanghelios. It's technically my home world.

Weird, fun fact about me: I'm only half human. I'm half human, half Sangheili. My mother was an ambassador from the UNSC sent to Sanghelios to keep up the whole alliance thing with the Arbiter. She ended up falling head over heels for one of The Arbiter's Swords of Sanghelios and thus, I, the ravishing little mutant was born. She still lives on Sanghelios with my father, who still fights with the Arbiter on the regular. They're close enough that the Arbiter took care of me when I was a kid, since Sangheili parents generally don't do that kind of stuff. It's the whole cool uncle raising the kid becase you generally don't know who your dad is because Elites of good bloodlines procreate with pretty much anyone, indiscriminately. I'm not sure if the Arbiter does that, but I never really wanted to find out the answer to that. I also never asked about whether my dad did that or not. Euughhh. Anyway. Out of all the little monsters being raised in Sangheili Daycare, the Arbiter picked me. Turns out all that military training from the moment I was able to stand up on my own gave me a huge advantage in the UNSC, which I decided to join at 18 years old on my mom's encouragement. I'm 24 years old and already ODST, which isn't typical. The Arbiter probably felt bad for enouraging interspecies procreation resulting in an ugly ass child. Seriously. My baby pictures are the worst. I was born with mandibles. My skin is this crazy pale greyish color. I have a strange muscle structure, which was great for the increased gravity on Sanghelios, but it means my ideal weight is about 200lbs. Thank god my mom had the foresight to put me through augmentation when I was still super little so I didn't grow up looking like this human/Elite test tube experiment. I look human. I look so human no one would ever guess I'm anything but. The augmentations left me with two tiny scars next to my mouth and that's the only physical sign that I had a metric fuckton of plastic surgery. Go mom.

"Adams. Are you fucking daydreaming?" Fabian was glaring at me.

"Yeah. About all the shit I'm going to do in the Infinity's training room. I heard it's fantastic, equipped just for the Spartans." I retorted.

Fabian's mouth twitched, and I could tell she was trying not to laugh. She liked me. We got along well. I was one of the few people who could get away with being sassy. Personally, I think she relished the back and forth. Most people were too terrified of her to try.

"Classy, Adams. Very classy." Fabian shook her head.

Did I mention my name is Kasey Adams? It's actually not, but my real name is classified on my mother's special request to Admiral Hood, who also had a role in getting me into the UNSC, because there's a lot of lingering resentment towards anything Sangheili. Turns out, if you're part of an extremist religion that tries to purge the galaxy of humanity, most humans have a hard time letting go of their negative feelings about that. Who knew?

My real name is Khase 'Nradaman. Which is pretty obviously Sangheili as fuck. So going around with 'Nradaman on my uniform would be pretty bad for me. So for the last 6 years, I've been Kasey Adams. Super average non-Sangheili human girl from New Mombasa. I've literally never even seen New Mombasa. Its great. I've made up an entire home life that happened somewhere I've never been.

"Come on, you assholes. We're going to be briefed by the Captain himself, so if you're not on your best behavior, I will skin you alive when he's done. Capiche?" Fabian glared at all of us and we all nodded, knowing that wasn't an idle threat.

Karl Ewing sidled up to me. "I've heard Lasky's a looker." He said, in a low voice, a gleam in his eye.

I turned and rolled my eyes at him. "You've seen photos of him. You think he's hot. Stop pretending we're gossiping girlfriends."

Karl laughed. "Okay, you got me. But seriously. I've been dying to see him in person."

"Finally get to meet your celebrity crush?"

"I hope I get to meet mine." Christy put a hand on her heart. "Frederic."

I rolled my eyes again. "You guys are pathetic. Seriously pathetic. The amount of pathetic in this four foot radius is killing me."

"I'd kill a man for a chance to look at that AI they have here." Greg Hart, our resident psychology and technology specialist bumped my shoulder with his.

"Okay, that I can get behind." I told him. "I'd be totally down to see what's up with the AI and why the rampancy suddenly came back in full force."

"I have a theory on that." Greg said, as our squad walked briskly out of the loading bay and into the maze of corridors that would eventually lead to a lift to take us up to the Infinity's bridge.

"Do tell, Mega Nerd."

Greg shot me a look before continuing. "The Forerunner technology can cure AI's of rampancy. Why couldn't it cause rampancy? Maybe they didn't like the idea of AI's ruling the galaxy so they hit her with rampancy so she couldn't control the Guardians anymore."

"Solid theory. I'm sure Dr. Halsey hadn't thought of that. You should tell her."

Greg sighed. "I hate you so much right now."

"Right now?" Major Fabian had apparently been eavesdropping. "I hate her from the moment I wake up and remember I haven't killed her yet."

I slapped my knee like that was the funniest thing I'd ever heard then mimicked her statement in a high pitched voice.

"If you pull that shit on Captain Lasky, that 'yet' thing won't be an issue anymore." Fabian warned me.

"Yes sir, Major Fabian, sir." I said brightly.

"Fuck off, Adams."


	2. Chapter 2

We got up to the bridge, after what seemed like a thousand years in a high tech elevator. The bridge was impressive. Consoles and people everywhere. A yellow AI in a weird ass outfit standing on one of the consoles processing god only knows what. A group of people stood next to an important looking chair that overlooked an even more important looking console. I don't know. I wasn't very familiar with starships. I'd never been on one before. The bridge was basically just chairs and consoles and people who looked important. It was overwhelming.

An older man with dark hair and a very impressive uniform with lots of decoration saw us and waved us over. We all followed Fabian towards the impressive console.

"Captain Lasky. You must be Major Fabian." He smiled, warmly, at Fabian.

"Ohhh, definitely a looker." Ewing muttered under his breath. I stepped on his foot, hard, and I heard him inhale sharply. He kicked me in the back of the ankle, both of us still standing at attention, eyes on Lasky and Fabian.

Fuckin hell, Ewing. That hurt.

Lasky's gaze slid over all of us. "So you're my new ODST squad. I'm just going to make sure you're all present and accounted for. Roland?" He turned and glanced at the AI, who flickered and stepped forward on the console.

"Thank you, Captain. I will go through the roster and if each of you could say something once I call your name, it would be greatly appreciated." The AI said.

Polite AI's are always a good sign. It means they're probaly not psychotic.

The AI frowned for a brief second. "Um. Yes."

I fought the urge to sigh heavily. Everyone higher up who looked at my file always got caught off guard in seeing my name. I don't know what my file looked like, but I'm guessing my real name was there with huge, red letters reading, "DON'T CALL HER THIS OR ADMIRAL HOOD WILL BE PISSED THE HELL OFF" or something like that.

"Adams?" The AI called out.

Fabian eyed me.

"Present." I answered, as professionally and as soldierly as I could.

Fabian visibly relaxed. God, I loved it that my personality agitated her that much. I never gave a hint that I could be the little shit I was in the presence of her superiors but she still got nervous every time.

"Ardon?"

Amy raised her hand.

"Ewing?"

Karl chose my route and said, "Present." Right on, Karl.

"Granger?"

"Here." Tyler said, acting like this was frickin' high school or some bullshit.

The AI then called Christy Jamison, Jake McCoy, Greg Hart, Mark Johanson, Alex Lloyd, and Lily Victor. Who all said "here" like fucking Tyler did.

"Good. You're all here." Lasky nodded in satisfaction. "So for now, we don't have any official orders for you, other than to be on standby." He smiled. "But that's boring. So we've scheduled several daily training exercises for you all to participate in. The rest of your time is free for Major Fabian here to do with you as she sees fit." He then cleared his throat. "The person in charge of your training exercises is none other than the one and only Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer." He nodded at a tall, dark haired woman wearing standard issue BDU's.

Palmer nodded and stepped forward. "These exercises should be fun for all of you, since you'll be put into teams with my Spartans. Because of the way the teams work out, you won't be participating in every exercise, but you'll be required to spectate if you're not participating. I'll put up the teams on the training room board after I go over your files and see how you'll all fit with the Spartans. Sound good?"

That sounded awesome. I didn't know how the rest of my team felt, but I was pretty damn excited. Not many soldiers get the chance to train with Spartans. They'd definitely kick all of our asses with no problem, but it would still be cool to train with them. Lasky was definitely my favorite captain, hands down.

"Thank you, everyone. Now, if you'll excuse me-" Lasky addressed Fabian. "I have a ship to run." He nodded, smiled and walked away.

Palmer glanced at him, then back at us. "I'll grab someone to show you all to where you'll be staying. It's on the the training room, so if you head down there, the person I'll be sending will meet you." She also smiled, returned Fabian's salute, then followed Lasky.

Fabian turned to us. "Alright. I guess we're finding the training floor ourselves. Let's find a map or something."

The ten of us shuffled sort of awkwardly into the corridors and towards the lift. One of those dopey, "you are here" maps showing the layout of the entire ship got us going in the right direction. After that, we spent what felt like several thousand years of ten people in an elevator and we ended up on the training floor

"Holy shit." I looked around, absolutely dazzled. The training floor consisted of a long, massive corridor, with what looked like four training arenas, several different kinds of athletic rooms, and some barracks down at the end. It was huge. It was beautiful. I was loving this new post so much.

The peanut gallery echoed my sentiments in various phrases.

"Who do you think is going to show us where we're going to be living?" Christy asked me, in a low voice.

"Maybe it'll be _Frederiiiiiccccc_." I sighed the name in the most forlorn, love struck fashion I knew how to.

"You're an asshole. But I would probaby die right here." Christy couldn't help snickering, because I am that funny.

"Seriously though, that would be cool. The highest ranking Spartan giving us the tour. I'd be down for that." I told her.

"Echo-Nine, attention!" Fabian ordered suddenly, and we all fell into our usual formation, with myself, Christy, Greg, Karl and fuckin Tyler in the front. Fabian stood next to me since I was the second highest rank in our team because I'm fantastic. An ugly mutant Sangheili child, but still fantastic. I like to think I excel in the military to overcompensate for the fact that I'm ugly.

Two men approached us. One was just slightly taller than average, with dark hair and eyes that were a pretty indiscernible color. Like a dark greenish, greyish, blue on the and a lighter greenish greyish blue around his pupil. It was weird. He also had a scar through his right eyebrow. And he looked cranky. Poor guy must have suffered from resting bitch face something fierce. He had the number 104 where the name should've been on his uniform. Oh, shit. It was really hard not to cackle.

The man with him was tall. Very tall. He had broad shoulders and was clearly in great physical shape. I mean _great physical shape_. Very great physical shape. He seemed battle worn, though. Like he'd been through too much. The number 117 was embroidered on his shirt, instead of a name. Those numbers sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite remember why. Once I managed to pull my eyes from his body (dear god, that body), I saw that he was pale. Like he hadn't been in sunlight. Ever. He was blonde, and if he'd ever beeen in the sun, I was sure he'd have freckles. He had a low brow bone that gave him a permanent brooding expression, which was accompanied by-holy shit. He had the bluest eyes I'd ever seen in my life. If he made eye contact with me, I'm sure those eyes would burn all the way into my soul. He wasn't necessarily what most people would consider good-looking, but there was something about him. Hot damn.

Then he looked at me, and for a brief moment, our eyes were locked. I was right about the soul burning thing. I would be looking at 104 for all of eternity if it meant keeping my soul from spontaneous combustion brought on by a brooding stare from those blue eyes.

I threw a quick glance at Christy, who was staring straight ahead into the distance above the two men's heads, her expression almost sheer terror. Someone wasn't enjoying meeting their celebrity crush as much as Karl did.

"Major." Hearthrob 104 stepped foward and nodded. "Good to see you." His eyes roamed over our group, settled on Christy, who immediately went red all the way to her blonde hairline. "And your team." Christy's eyes darted to McHottie 104 and then back to whatever the hell she was staring at to avoid staring at the two men in front of us. Nice. Very subtle, nimrod. There's no way he'll suspect you're fangirling to the highest degree.

"Thank you. The pleasure's all ours. I don't think we've met." Fabian said, her lack of social graces painfully apparent.

"My apologies. I'm Spartan Frederic-104. This is Spartan John-117, who prefers to be called Master Chief."

Whooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Whoa.

Whoa.

Someone's shitting me here.

THE Master Chief? Freckles McDreamy is the Master Chief? The guy who's saved our galaxy's ass so many times that it's pretty much just expected? Like, "We got a problem, where's the Chief"? That guy?

Damn, dude. Why didn't anyone tell me he was a babe?

"I may not have met either of you, but I've sure heard a lot about you. It's good to meet you." Fabian said calmly, with a slight eye twitch unnoticeable by most, but by someone who knew her well, like me, clearly stated that she wished her team would regain their composure, and quickly.

"Likewise." The Chief spoke for the first time. The guy had a deep, rough voice, like he spent a lot of time growling at people. That didn't mean his voice wasn't super sexy, because it totally was. Just the kind of sexy voice one might get from constantly having slight laryngitis.

"We've all heard a lot about you, sir. I myself even saw the musical tribute." I said. I did, too. It was called "Believe", and it was a memorial musical tribute to the Chief and all he'd done for the UNSC. It was as unbelievably corny as it sounded. I only saw the musical on the off chance that the Chief wasn't actually dead and that I would someday meet him and be able to say the exact words I'd just said to him. That one bright moment made the four hour musical monstrosity by the UNSC's Symphony Orchestra worth it. So, so worth it.

 _You fucker_. Fabian mouthed at me. I'd told her about seeing it and why I'd done it.

Sorry not sorry, Fabian. I'd waited years for this moment. I could die a happy soldier now.

The Chief just looked at me, incredulous. Heartthrob 104's mouth twitched, his amusement at the Chief's expense apparent.

"Your barracks are down this way." Babes McGee 104 cleared his throat, then pointed down the long corridor, past the training arenas and towards the darker, creepier part of the floor. Great.

We all followed Babes 104 and Master Chief Pretty Officer to where we'd be staying. Six rooms. Two members per room, and Fabian got her own. They were pretty sweet. A bed, a closet and a console on each side. Bathrooms were at the very end. One for the men, one for the women. Christy and I got assigned to one of the rooms on the right side of the hall, closest to the training areas. It sucked we were farthest from the bathrooms, but at least I had a quality roomate.

I noticed all our gear had already been moved into our rooms. Which was convenient, but a litle disturbing. Someone had touched all my stuff. Someone I didn't know. Even my personal stuff. Like the kind of personal stuff I needed to stay secret. Like stuff that had my actual name on it. God, I hope that person didn't go through my stuff.

"Is there a problem, soldier?" That sexy laryngitis was close to my ear.

I was so busy internally losing my shit that I didn't notice Pretty come up behind me. I don't know how I didn't notice, since when I did notice, I could literally feel his presence behind me. So clearly I had to say something. When my vocal chords decided to work, of course. Any second now. Come on, guys. Don't make me look bad.

"Um-" My voice came out almost as laryngitis-y as his, but far, far less sexy. I coughed and tried again. "I just don't like people touching my stuff."

He didn't say anything for a minute. "I don't either."

Before I could think of something witty or insightful to say to keep that thrilling conversation going, Babes 104 approached us.

"Chief. Palmer wants us to show them to the mess hall and then report to her. She's got the teams ready and wants to know if we approve. Since we've met them and have a final say in who's on our teams." He said in a low voice, glancing at me. Apparently he didn't care if I knew they were being all picky about who they got paired with. It was fine by me. I was mature enough to be okay with Babes 104 not wanting to be on my team. His loss.

The Chief nodded at Babes 104 and then turned those scorching blue eyes on my face. Then just walked away, leaving me high and dry. It seemed like cold air rushed into fill the space he had just occupied.

Fabian called for us to fall in line to follow the two Spartans, and we did. With me, right behind her. I would've stared at Pretty Chief's broad shoulders in appreciation, memorizing every fantastic line of his silhouette, if Fabian hadn't been taller than me and blocking my goddamn view. I was in the perfect position to check out his ass, and she was in my damn way, blocking my damn view.

Christy nudged me from behind. "Fabian, blocking the view like a champ."

"I feel that sentiment on a spiritual level. You have no idea." I whispered back.

"I, on the other hand, got a fantastic view of Lasky's ass as he walked away. And it is as wonderful as the stories say." Karl whispered from behind Christy.

"Yeah, okay, rub it in that you got to see your ass of choice, and we don't." One of these days, I was going to stick Karl's head in a toilet.

We entered the mess hall and the Spartans took their leave of us. This time, there was no Fabian blocking my view, and I relished it. So did Christy.

Apparently, we relished the view all too obviously, and were gifted with an unceremonious smack on the back of the head from Fabian.

"You two are getting on my last fucking nerve. Seriously. Here I am, enjoying the view myself, but at least I'm being subtle about it, whereas you two are practically salivating." Fabian rolled her eyes at us.

"I like to be open about my Spartan physique appreciation." I told her.

Lily Victor laughed. "You guys are sad. Like two teenage girls with their first crush."

"You know what, Victor? If that Spartan Kelly-whatever-her-number-is walked in here and looked at you, you'd create a puddle on the floor, don't even try to tell me you wouldn't, okay? Get off it." I waved a hand at her.

"Rude. Also, disgusting." Lily shook her head, grinning.

Fucking Tyler decided to add something to the conversation when literally no one asked him to. "They're Spartans. We're ODST. We're supposed to be professional and grateful for the chance to train with them before we actually end up working with them, not acting like idiots."

"What he said." Lloyd agreed, sounding irritated. I would now refer to him as Fucking Lloyd since he agreed with Fucking Tyler. Those two were getting on _my_ last nerve.

McCoy laughed. "I'm sure they appreciate the compliment. If they don't see it as a compliment, then I'm sure they're used to it by now. If Adams and Jamison want to look silly, they should go right ahead. Free entertainment for me."

"Thank you, McCoy, for the vote of confidence. It's greatly appreciated." I said, sincerely. I was genuinely glad I could still count him out of the Fucking Idiot pack of Tyler, Lloyd and Johanson. Johanson was still on my shit list from something he told me months ago. He said if I ever wanted to look hot, I should go tanning. I'm never going to forgive him for that. It's not my fault I got my father's shitty Sangheili complexion.

We got our food and found a table to sit down.

People were looking. They weren't making it obvious, but it was clear that they were looking at us and saying shit about us. I'm not sure what kind of shit, but I hoped it was good. Not something like, "Oh look, another ODST team that's going to die on a drop. That's the third one this month." I just got into the ODST program and I wanted to stay here for at least a little bit. I worked very hard to get here. I wanted to live to enjoy it. For at least a week. I'm not that picky.

"When we're done here, go to your rooms. I'm going to wander around a bit. Talk to people. Get some information. Do my thing. I don't want any of you moving from your rooms unless myself or someone who outranks me tells you to. Clear?" Fabian eyed all of us at the table.

"As clear as Johanson's complexion has never been." I smiled, sweetly. If I can make a cheap shot at Johanson's skin, I will. I have no shame.

Johanson looked like he wanted to stab me with his fork. I didn't blame him. There are lots of people that want stab me with sharp objects when I open my mouth. But he didn't want to stab me with a fork half as badly as I wanted to stab him with something else. Namely, the energy sword I have. I know it's totally illegal to own one, and it would definitely get me court martialed if someone found out, but it's so freaking cool. Plus, I like to train with it in secret sometimes, just to keep my skill level up. If anyone found out, I'd tell them it was a gift from the Arbiter. It wasn't. I'd totally stolen it from him the last time I'd seen him before I'd left for the UNSC when I was 18. I was afraid he'd notice it had gone missing before I'd left, so I distracted him by taking him to this gorgeous field in Vadam and making him put wildflowers in my depressingly average brown hair. He'd gotten all weird after that day, and every time I saw him after that, and would ask me a strange question as a way of saying goodbye, but I knew that soft spot he had for me would compel him to lie and say that he gave it to me as a gift to cover my ass. I'd get so much shit for it later from him, but he'd come through when it counted. He always did.

I missed Sangheili. I missed the fields of my home, Nradaman. It was a tiny as shit state that sat up against Vadam. I missed my mom. I missed my dad, even though I didn't ever see him that much. I missed Yan 'Nradaman, my cousin and best friend from back home (the only cousin that was the same age as me, which meant we couldn't have the same father, a genuine Sangheili concern). I even missed conversing in Sangheili, even though it is the weirdest, ugliest language.

"You okay?" Greg was staring at me from across the table.

"Yeah, yeah." I shook my head, clearing away thoughts of home. "Just missing home a little. That's all. Happens every time I get a new post." It did. I was going to send my mom a video message later, as was my tradition.

"Do you regret joining the UNSC?" He asked, concern coloring his eyes.

"No, not at all. Just wish going on leave wasn't such a rare occurrance." I smiled, trying to reassure him.

"You're the only person I know who actually wants to visit New Mombasa." Greg joked, apparently trying to light my depressing ass up a little.

Christy put a hand on my elbow. She was the only one besides Fabian who knew. And she didn't even know all of it.

Yeah, I was definitely going to message my mother tonight. A girl can be 26, all grown up and part of an elite squadron of shock troopers on the biggest starship in the UNSC fleet and still want to call her mommy. Shit happens.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Note: I did a ton of research on Sanghelios for this story, but when it comes to the language, there isn't much out there. So, naturally, I decided I would make it up. Sangheili is considered by popular consensus to be similar to Japanese, due to the culture of Sanghelios being similar to ancient Japanese culture. Therefore, in order to make up words I could not find translations for, I decided to use variations of Japanese words for the particular word I needed. Thank you for understanding, and if anyone has a resource for Sangheili words they can recommend I would be eternally grateful.**

The next morning was rough. Space travel will give you something that's akin to jet lag, only worse. Because you feel like you're dying. And it's indiscriminate. It will take down your entire squad.

And who does your squad go see when they're feeling like they're dying? The medic. Which is fine. Unless you're the medic, and you also feel like utter shit.

Guess who that lucky medic was?

That's right. Me. That's what I chose to do, way back when I first went for basic training. I made the incredibly bright decision to be a combat medic, because I was young, full of hope, innocence and utter stupidity.

My original decision to become a combat medic came largely from my childhood. I'd gotten sick as a child, the way children do sometimes, and my mother had taken me to a doctor. Which wouldn't have been anything unusual, except she took me to a doctor on another planet.

Why? Sangheili detest doctors. Doctors are basically considered the lowest of the low in Sangheili society. They're looked down on. Spit on. Everyone hates them. But sometimes, they're necessary. They practice in secret, and using extremely primitive methods, methods which only reinforce the idea that they're the lowest kind of people.

Sangheili believe that losing blood by any other means rather than combat is utterly shameful. Like the kind of shameful where you should just off yourself because there's no redeeming yourself from that. They're so big on the whole "bleeding makes you an embarrassment to society" thing, that if an Elite is wounded in battle and they don't die, they'll charge at the opponent who caused them to bleed and try to kill them with their bare hands, because that's really the only way to regain your honor. It's crazy. Unfortunately, medical practices on Sangheili almost always involve blood.

So I decided that because the UNSC gives great medical training, I could go receive said medical training and use that to help the morons on Sanghelios give actual medical care with laser surgery and shit that didn't involve cutting with scalpels and taking blood and that crap, and maybe keep the idiots that live on that planet from dying from infections or the goddamn common cold because they didn't want the dishonor of visiting a doctor that would take their blood or perform surgery with a goddamn hunting knife. Why refuse medical care if there's no dishonor?

Plus, sutures are literally not even a thing on Sanghelios. I'm not even kidding. Neither are antibiotics. Hell, even basic painkillers don't exist. Medical care is basically, "I'm going to take your blood even though you're already wounded and then spray some fucking biofoam on your gaping wound and hope this shit works". It's ridiculous. They don't even know laser surgery exists.

I'm technically qualified to practice as a doctor, pretty much wherever I want to. The difference between a doctor and a combat medic, though, is that I'm trained to do anything from slapping on a bandaid to major surgery using only the bare necessities one might find on a battlefield, and in record time. A fully stocked medical bay is a goddamn luxury for me. That's also why, while not all of my squad is thrilled with me as a person, they still do their best to look out for me and to stay on my good side. Because I'll be the literal difference between life and death for them.

I'm also a very good medic. Major Fabian can attest to that, since she and I go back. The reason Major Fabian put in a special request to transfer me to her ODST squad when she was promoted to senior officer is because we both ended up in the Midnight Facility two years ago, in 2557. I was there for a grim assignment that included nursing prisoners back to health after being tortured for information so they could live to be tortured some more. She was there on an assignment to interrogate Gek 'Lhar, the Sangheili commander who carried out a terrorist attack on Earth. The moronic prison guards couldn't seem to keep him in his chains, and one day he got loose while she was interrogating him and tried to rip her apart. I ended up doing an emergency surgery right there on the cell floor while twelve armed guards detained that psychotic fucker to put her entrails back in her body and kept her from bleeding to death. Obviously, I was successful. But it was super awkward explaining to her that she was nearly killed by a Sangheili and was then miraculously (it was a goddamn miracle, I can't take all the credit) saved by a half Sangheili. She took it really well, in my opinion. About two weeks ago, I was stationed at an Earth medical facility when I got the call that Fabian wanted me to go ODST combat medic. I didn't hesitate in accepting. We'd gotten to know each other pretty well at the Midnight Facility. She had no choice but to get to know me, since I literally saved her life and brought her back to full health from the brink of death.

I'm a great medic. But I always lied and called myself infantry whenever I visited home. Like hell I'm going to mention that. I already get shit for being half human. The only reason I wasn't killed during childhood is because of my father being a renowned soldier and Thel 'Vadam personally taking my upbringing (which was 100% military training) upon himself (like I said, Sangheili parenting isn't generally done by your actual parents due to the fact that nobody can _really_ know who their father is) and using his position as Kaidon of Vadam to let people know I was somewhat important. I'd honestly rather people think I was just basic infantry than let them know I was medical personnel. I didn't even tell Thel 'Vadam. He has no idea. I've seen him several times since I left Sanghelios to pursue an industrious career in one of the most dishonorable occupations that exists on my home planet, and I've made damn sure that no one around me has said anything. One of my old battalion members came to me one time while Thel took a brief moment to talk to me and asked me if I could take a look at his healing bullet wound. I looked at the bandage and went, "Yep, you got shot! It's not bleeding, so you probably won't die. Go away." And refused to acknowledge him until Thel had left. It was an incredibly awkard situation, especially since the guy witnessed Thel's strange way of saying goodbye to me, and was like, "What was that all about?" And I told him to shut the fuck up or he'd get another bullet wound, one that wouldn't heal because it would be in his face.

Thel does this thing where he'll stand next to me, looking over my head (he's almost 8 feet tall, and I'm literally like two feet shorter than him), and ask, "Do you need me?" And I'm always like, "No." Because, what the fuck, Thel? What kind of a question is that? No, I don't need you, I'm not in danger of my cousin trying to bite my arm off anymore (True story; My own cousin was so pissed off that Thel 'Vadam chose to raise me instead of him that he tried to bite my arm off at the shoulder one day when we were fighting each other in hand to hand combat training. I almost lost my left arm that day. Fortunately, I didn't, because Thel stepped in and kicked the absolute shit out of him. The best part is, I still have a gnarly scar to show for it). Like, it's great to see you and all but I don't need your ass. I got my shit handled. And after I always say "No", he'll just touch the side of my face and walk away. It's so fucking weird. It drives me crazy that he can't just say a regular goodbye or some shit.

I have so many secrets, it gets confusing trying to remember who knows what. The people I work with in the UNSC don't get to know my real name or where I'm from, those back on Sanghelios don't get to know I'm a medic, my superiors don't get to know that I'm on a solid level of friendship with the damn Arbiter, etc. My whole life is this tangled web of bullshit. Except for Christy, Fabian and my mother. It's nice that I don't have to throw the bullshit at them.

The Christy in question was begging me to give her a shot of an incredibly powerful painkiller. The Fabian in question was pounding on the door to our room, along with Karl and Greg, exacerbating the already excruciating headache I had.

"Nobody gets anything for their space plague until the medic treats her own fucking space plague!" I shouted, prepping a syringe. I stuck it into my arm, then sat back on the bed, leaning my back against the wall as I felt the headache and nausea subside. Then I sighed, and prepped ten more syringes. I tossed one across the room to Christy, who stabbed her arm with the ease of someone who's been taught by a medic how to stab their own goddamn arm to administer their own goddamn space lag so I could give it to the rest of the idiots on our team. I taught Christy back when I was stationed in that UNSC medical facility on Earth, which was where she and I met. I called in my one favor to Fabian and had her draft Christy to the squad. Christy had an impressive combat record under her belt, so it was technically to Fabian's benefit that she took Christy. Christy is arguably one of the best explosive technicians in the UNSC. I've seen her dismantle a nuclear weapon in under a minute.

I opened the door to the room and started stabbing my team. With hypoderic needles, of course. Some a little harder than necessary, like Fucking Tyler and Johanson, but I still gave those assholes their shots because, deep down in my cold, dark heart, I care.

We all eventually made it to the mess hall in time to get breakfast, which we would need because we were doing our first combat training exercise with the Spartans later. A solid breakfast is important when you're working with important people.

We made our way back down to the floor we lived on and checked out the bulletin board to see who was on what team. The Spartans we would be paired with were already there.

"Good morning, everyone. How are we all feeling? Ready to kick some ass? Great." Palmer looked entirely too happy for anyone that was awake and doing things at 0630 hours.

"Okay. So. We ran into some problems. Kelly-087 was assigned to a mission on Sanghelios at 2300 hours last night, so all of my hard work on creating teams went to shit. Therefore, I thought we'd do it now, with some of you getting a say in who you work with. Namely, the people behind me." She motioned to the Spartans.

Chief and Babes 104 were there, along with a red haired woman, another woman with reddish brown hair, some guy with brown hair, some woman with black hair and...Spartan Jameson Locke. The ONI agent who'd planned to assassinate Thel 'Vadam.

There was no way I could be allowed on that guys team. If someone broke his arm, I'd probably just tear it off and beat him to death with it.

Deep breaths, Adams. Keep your face neutral.

"Alright. Spartans: Who do you want on your team?"

Locke spoke up. "I want the medic."

I shot Fabian a look that clearly said, " _That is a terrible idea."_ Fabian shot me a furrowed brow, squinty eyed confused look. I hated that look. It meant she wasn't keeping up. Christ, Fabian. Get it together.

I cleared my throat. "I respectfully decline your offer."

There was a cold silence. Locke stared at me, incredulous. Palmer raised an eyebrow. My entire team seemed to stop breathing. Frederic mimicked Palmer's eyebrow thing, and the rest of the Spartans just looked shocked. Except for Chief and the red haired woman. They both had utterly neutral facial expressions.

"And why is that?" Locke's eyes narrowed as his incredulous expression turned into a piercing glare.

I was going to throw some shade, but in a way that no one knew what I was really saying. There's no way I was going to mention anything about Sanghelios, the Covenant War, Thel 'Vadam, any of that. So I was going to say some bullshit.

"With all due respect, sir, with your military background you are the least likely one here to need a medic."

Locke's facial expression relaxed, the Spartans all showed various states of amusement, my team started breathing again, Fabian rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips and Palmer burst out laughing.

"Can't argue with you on that." The corner of Locke's mouth twitched.

Asshole. I didn't mean it as a compliment. I almost lost someone important to me, thanks to you, and you don't need a medic that wants to break your face on your team. That's what I meant.

"Okay, medic." Palmer was still chuckling. "Who do you recommend take you for their team?"

"Based off of what I know from your Spartans, I originally would've recommended Kelly-087, due to the fact that her high level of pain tolerance would lead her to disregard critical injuries as less serious than what they are. But in the event that Kelly-087 is not with us at the present time, I would recommend putting me with Olympia Vale, as she is the one with the least amount of combat experience and therefore less likely to recognize critical injuries, such as internal injuries, when they occur." I stood with my hands behind my back, my words, composure and posture the picture of professionalism

Fabian looked so proud.

Palmer looked impressed. Vale looked slightly offended, but she couldn't argue with that.

I had ulterior motive, though. Vale was fluent in Sangheili. She had been to Sanghelios. She had been on the planet longer and in more places than most humans. She'd met Thel 'Vadam. She loved Sangheili culture and knew a lot about it. I figured she'd be okay with me if she ever found out about me.

"Then you're with Vale. Who happens to be with Buck. Vale? Buck?" Palmer turned. "You get one more."

Vale looked at the group of us. "I did my research. I'd like the one named Ewing, due to his expertise with weapons, martial arts and . Buck?"

Buck shifted. "I did not do my research, so I have no problem with that choice."

I stuck my hand behind me, and Karl dutifully fistbumped me. Fabian shot me her famous, "Cut the shit, Adams" look.

I didn't even care who was on the rest of the teams. Except for Christy. She got paired with Chief Pretty Officer and Babes 104. I would normally say she was a lucky bitch but she got Johanson too. So sucks to be her.

Fabian even got a team, since Palmer apparently wanted to participate. Fabian, Palmer, Victor and Locke were all on a team. That was a force to be reckoned with.

"Okay. Now that we've got teams assigned, let's get to the combat arena we'll be using." Palmer led us through the door of the Arena 4, which was on the right side of the hallway, closest to our barracks.

We ended up in the viewing area above the arena. It was spectacular. First of all, it was fucking huge. Maybe two miles deep, and about four hundred feet wide. It had foliage. Real foliage!

It was modeled after the forests of Requiem. I had never seen Requiem in person, just in pictures, but I recognized it immediately.

"Requiem." I breathed softly, in awe.

"You recognize it?" That low, sexy laryngitis tinged voice spoke next to me. I hadn't even realized the Chief was there.

"Only from the photos I've seen. I never saw it in person." I replied.

"It's an exact likeness. I was there." He said, quietly.

"So I've heard."

Palmer announced which teams would be facing off that day. Apparently it was my team vs. Chief's team. Or Fucking Johanson's team.

I narrowed my eyes at Christy, letting her know it was on. She narrowed her eyes back letting me know she knew it was on.

Fabian was shooting me another classic look, the "Really?" look. I stuck my tongue out at her and she rolled her eyes.

"The objective is simple. You start at opposite ends of the arena, make your way to the center where an object is located. The team that retrieves the object and brings it back to their command post wins. Bonus points if you eliminate every member of the other team. Elimination can be anything from physically incapacitating your opponent to shooting them. With paint bullets, of course. Not real bullets." Palmer eyed everyone in the room. "If anyone here decides to use real bullets, they're off the ship." She leveled a gaze at me.

"You're looking at me like I'm the most likely to use real bullets." I said to her.

She smirked. "No, I just need you to be ready if someone does decide to use real bullets."

I considered this for a second. "That's fair."

"Get to your ready rooms. You'll be outfitted with weapons and armor there. The exercise starts in twenty minutes." Palmer motioned to a door opposite the entrance we came in. That led to stairs, and a corridor. Fucking Johanson's team got the command post closest to the viewing gallery. My team? We had to walk all the fucking way around.

"Well, fuck Palmer for assigning us to this side." Vale shook her head.

"It's like she's trying to give us yet another disadvantage." Buck also shook his head.

"Another disadvantage?" Ewing asked.

Buck looked at him. "We're against the Master Chief and Frederic-104. Both Spartan II's. Both combat veterans. Frederic-104 is the highest ranked Spartan. And they have a former special ops ODST on their team and an explosives expert. We have a basic bitch former ODST, a guy with so many specialties he can't possibly have mastered them all, a Sangheili nerd and a damn medic." I couldn't tell if he was actually annoyed or making a cynical joke.

"Excuse you. I can do more than slap bandaids on your salty ass. I wouldn't be ODST if that was all I could do." I snorted.

Buck cracked a grin. "Well, I'll wait to judge until I see you in action, Bandaid Slapper."

I laughed. Maybe this guy wouldn't be too bad either.

We got all our equipent and armor on and had about five minutes to spare before the exercise began.

"We should think of a team name." Ewing looked around at all of us.

I stood still for a minute, debating whether or not I should do what I wanted to do. I decided to do it.

"Ji shari." I said, quietly.

Vale's head shot up and she stared at me with a wild look in her eyes.

"Gesundheit." Buck said shooting me a strange look.

"And that means what, exactly?" Karl said, looking at me strangely.

"It's means 'to victory'. It's Sangheili." Vale said slowly, still staring at me, her eyes narrowing with slight confusion and suspicion.

Ewing looked bewildered. "You speak Sangheili?" He demanded, incredulous. His voice also got super weirdly high.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I speak it all the time. You just never notice because you speak it too." I shook my head. "I spent a while on night shift in a UNSC field hospital. I had some long nights where I read a lot of stuff. I know things." I spread my arms out. "Tell me calling ourselves Ji Shari wouldn't be cool as fuck."

Vale still looked suspicious. Good. I wanted her to be suspicious. I wanted to question me. If she'd worked with Thel, it was likely she'd heard of me. She probably just didn't know it. On account of me lying through my teeth to Thel about what I really did with the UNSC. "I like it." She finally said.

"You would, Sangheili nerd." Buck shook his head. "Alright. Team Ji Shari it is. Do we also scream our name as a battle cry?"

I shrugged. "Up to you. Personally, I prefer to scream 'yippe ki yay motherfuckers' as my battle cry, but to each his own."

Buck started laughing. "I like that better. Team Ji Shari, with the official battle cry of 'yippee ki yay motherfuckers'. Definitely better than anything the other team could come up with."

"PREPARE FOR COMBAT." A computerized voice blared at us from some speakers above the door that lead into the arena. A large countdown clock started to count down from ten seconds, along with a blaring "BEEP" to accompany each number.

We immediately sobered up and readied ourselves by the door, waiting for it to open.

We moved through the brush, as silently as possible, towards what (we thought) was the center of the arena (it was hard to tell. There was a lot of shrubbery), listening for any sign of the other team.

Buck held up a fist. We all stopped. "I'll be point. Ewing, you're after me. Then Vale. And our medic taking up the rear." He looked back. "If the Chief beats the shit out of one of us, I want you in a position where you can be protected so none of us are permanently maimed."

We all nodded, took our positions and resumed moving through the under brush, using the greenery as cover.

It seemed like an eternity of moving slowly and quietly through bushes that weren't conducive to moving either slowly or silently passed. Suddenly, Buck held up his fist again. "Get on the ground. Everyone."

We obeyed. Through the dense foliage, I could see a clearing with some sort of object. It was a flag. This was like capture the flag, but there was only one flag and whoever got it had it. Nice. An old classic with a twist.

We sat for another eternity, waiting. It was just like real combat, except without the adrenaline rush from the threat of potentially dying (or, if you were me, the threat of potentially dying AND having to keep your squad members from dying-the added pressure really puts the adrenaline rush into overdrive). Without the adrenaline, though, it was boring. Laying on your stomach for a ridiculous amount of time is really uncomfortable too. My left arm was going numb.

There was movement on the opposite end of the clearing.

And here came the adrenaline.

No, Adams's body. We do not have to actually save anyone's life. Stop freaking out. Please.

It was the Chief, flanked by Frederic and Johanson. I knew that could only mean one thing: Christy was in hiding. With explosives.

Okay, maybe I would have to save someone's life.

They slowly made their way towards the flag. I threw a glance around. Ewing was gone.

What the fuck? Where did he go? When did he leave?

There was a quiet zing and a splat. Johanson's helmet had red paint on it. In the dead center of his visor. He followed the rules and dropped to the ground. I bit back a laugh. Karl, what a champ. Taking out Fucking Johanson first. Instead of one of the two Spartans. The amusement over the placement of the paint and his first choice of target took precedence over the concern that the two Spartans were still standing.

Frederic and the Chief immediately went back to back, looking for the sniper. Chief fired one shot off the the side where Johanson had fallen. I heard the splat of paint hitting armor. Well, we lost our sniper. It was now 3-3.

Frederic and the Chief made a slow circle, both of them scanning the perimeter.

I heard Frederic's low voice say, "Jamison, go for my twelve."

His twelve was right in front of him. Which was exactly where the three of us were hiding.

SHIT.

MOTHERFUCKING SHIT.

It was now or never. I pushed myself off the ground in one motion, leaving a stunned Vale and Buck still on the ground.

I charged out of the foliage like the biggest, most enraged Elite in existence, just like I had been taught to, straight towards the Chief and Frederic. Then I heard the faint sound of gunfire behind me, and saw red paint splattering all around me. I knew it wouldn't last long.

I briefly saw a makeshift grenade sail over the top of Chief and Frederic, who were utterly taken off guard by my sudden rush towards them and prepared myself for the explosion.

The explosion was bigger than I thought. Chief and Frederic apparently didn't think it was going to be that intense either, because they both staggered backwards. I used the force to advantage my momentum and lowered my right shoulder, connecting it with Frederic's abdomen, hard. He went down, and as he did, I fired my gun twice into his side, point blank. Then, I turned on the Chief, who was in the middle of a turn to face me.

I used a move Thel 'Vadam had taught me to use when taking down Hunters (or anything bigger than me, which was the vast majority of everyone living on Sanghelios) and went low, straight for his kneecaps.

The Chief was fucking fast. He hadn't even fully turned to face me before he started firing. Fortunately for me, he had been holding his practice rifle with both hands, which made it harder to aim at your kneecaps. I hit his knees and he fell.

I used that opportunity to grab the flag and take off through the underbrush with it in hand.

Vale and Buck were laying on the ground. I stopped briefly to do a routine pulse check, evaluate any actual injuries. There was no blood. No cuts. Pulses were strong. They were eliminated from the exercise, but seemed to be okay. If they werent, the injuries were internal and there was nothing I could do for them right now. Not without medical equipment or a way to transport them.

I took off again with the flag. I took a sharp turn to the left and kept running. I found an embankement and slid down it, taking cover behind a tree.

A fucking tree. There was huge fucking tree in this arena. What even.

Then I listened. I heard footsteps pounding through the underbrush in the direction of the command post. Was it one pair of footsteps? Or two pairs? I couldn't tell. I took a moment to breathe after the footsteps had passed, secured the flag to my body, secured my weapon and began moving through the brush towards my command post.

Gonna surprise those assholes. Yippee ki yay, motherfuckers.

I moved until I was about ten yards from the command post, and listened. Suddenly I heard the sound of gunfire. I dropped and rolled, then started firing my own gun in the direction of the sound. I heard a click. Whoever it was, they were out of ammo. We didn't get backup clips for this exercise. A moment later, my own gun clicked, signaling it was also out of bullets.

Damn it. Here's to hoping it was Christy. I could put her on her ass in under ten seconds.

I got up and stood to face whoever it was.

Just my fucking luck, it was the damn Spartan. It's like I'm doomed to a life of fighting people I have no physical advantage over.

He stood, ready. I slowly pulled the flag off my back and rammed it into the ground in front of me, for dramatic effect. I'm a medic. We're great at dramatic effect.

Then, suddenly, I tasted dirt. Something had hit me from behind. "Fucking fuck, Christy." I grunted, fumbling with the spider monkey attached to my back, who was trying to hold me down. I easily flipped over and got her off of me, then picked her up and suplexed her onto the ground. She lay there, gasping for breath. I picked up my empty gun and beat her helmet with it a few times for good measure.

Then I looked up, just in time for the Chief to tackle me.

How much did he even weigh? It was like being hit by a freight train. I hit the ground harder than I'd ever hit the ground in my life, and he landed on top of me. I heard a crack, and searing pain shot through my left side. It didn't take a medical genius of my caliber to know that his body weight had cracked my rib. It didn't hurt to breathe, mainly because the wind was completely knocked out of me. He picked up my head by the visor of my helmet and slammed my head into the ground. I saw stars.

Fine. He wanted to play rough? We could play rough.

I found my breath, ignoring the horrific pain, and headbutted him. His head snapped back and I used that opportunity to bring my knees up and throw him off.

He was heavy. Very heavy. But no heavier than the average Elite, which made it easy enough to throw him off.

I staggered to my feet, and faced him. It was clear he intended to eliminate me and then walk his happy ass back to his command post with the flag. Like hell I was going to let that happen.

I grabbed the flag and held it out to him, like I was intending to use it as a weapon. He put up both hands and readied himself. I whirled around and took off sprinting in the direction of the command post. I heard footsteps pounding after me and knew I had about four seconds before he caught up to me.

I covered the distance as quickly as I could, my lungs burning, since I couldn't draw the kind of breath I needed. He was right behind me. I felt a brush on my left shoulder, and switched the flag to my right hand. Then I threw it as hard as I could towards the white circle of the command post. It landed in the middle. Then I hit the wall of the training arena, and the Chief smashed into me. I heard another crack, felt more pain. There went another rib. Good thing it was on the same side, right?

I gasped, the wind knocked out of me again. I felt him grab me by the back of my armor and then I was on my back at the ground, looking up at a very large Spartan. There was no more wind to knock out of me. I couldn't breathe.

He grabbed me by the front of my armor and lifted me up. I grabbed his forearms, swung my legs up, curling myself into a little ball, then used the momentum to flex my back and lower body out into a goddamn missile, planting both feet straight into his throat. He dropped me and went down. I fell. Hard.

Again. Fucking hell, how many times was I going to hit the ground?

I managed to suck in a breath and yell, "WE WON! THE FLAG IS IN THE COMMAND POST! OBJECTIVE COMPLETE!" My chest was heaving with tiny breaths. All I felt was pain.

The Chief struggled to his feet, hand on his throat. Hopefully I crushed his damn windpipe or something. Marred that sexy throat for life. Inverted his Adam's apple.

Is that even possible? I'm a medic, I should know that, but I don't. I should ask someone. Maybe Thel 'Vadam. God knows I've done that to him enough times that he would be the expert.

Palmer's voice came over the PA system. "If you two can walk, come back to the viewing room and join the rest of us."

I was still on the ground on my back. The Chief stood over me, and offered a hand. I grabbed his hand, grateful for the help, and he lifted me up easily. I gripped his hand so he couldn't let go and used it to steady myself.

"Sorry about your neck." I mumbled, letting go of his hand.

"Sorry about your entire body." He said.

"It's cool." I mumbled.

He started to move to the door.

"No, no, no. Get your happy ass back over here and take off your armor." I called out.

He turned, hesitated for a minute, then started to take off his armor. I approached him, reached up and grabbed both sides of his head, staring into those painfully blue eyes, looking for any signs of concussion. Then I moved my hands to his throat. No visible bruising. It looked like the armor had protected him well.

"Hold out your arms." I went over his arms, squeezing them, testing their movements. They were fine. "How are your legs?"

"They're fine." He had been watching me with mild curiosity as I felt up his body.

God, being a medic was fantastic. I just got to put my hands all over that righteous bod. Let me tell you, I was squeezing some fantastic shit. I should've kicked him in the groin.

After I'd ascertained that he was fine (he was in much, much better condition than I was. So not fair), we went in through the door to what had been the ready room for Ji Shari Team (yippee ki yay, motherfuckers) and made our way, slowly, down the long ass corridor back to the viewing area.

Everyone else was already there. Christy had an ice pack on her shoulder. I approached her and automatically started checking her out. "My bad." I grabbed her face and looked into her eyes. "No concussion."

She shook her head and cracked a smile. "Well, that's goo. And I knew what I was getting into. The beating you took from the Chief made up for any injuries you gave me." Then her smile turned into a glare. "Beating me to death with your rifle for good measure was totally unnecessary though."

I shrugged. "I said sorry." I started stripping off my armor. I had to look at my ribs. They didn't puncture anything, which was a plus. But they had to be taken care of sooner rather than later.

As I stripped off my armor, I looked for my two other teammates. I found them, and immediately headed over, still stripping off my armor.

I approached Vale, grabbed her face, checked her eyes, and her face for any visible bruising. There was a bruise on her cheek, but it wasn't bad enough to cause a concussion. I pushed on her abdomen. "Does that hurt?"

She winced. "Yes."

That was a bad sign. "Okay. We're going to need to get a scan and see if you have any internal bleeding." I felt up her arms, then her shoulders, then her back. She was standing, so I assumed her leg bones were still intact.

I then turned to Buck and Ewing.

Karl put his hands out. "All I got was paint on my armor. I'm fine."

I nodded, then repeated the process I'd put Vale through with Buck. Then I moved to Frederic. I didn't even ask him anything, just repeated the process. Poked and prodded him. Made sure he was in good condition. He was. All the Spartans were totally unhurt, except for Vale. She worried me.

"Are you satisfied, Adams?" I came back to reality and noticed everyone was watching me. Palmer was the one who'd spoken. She was studying me with an expresssion I couldn't quite identify. Fabian was beaming at me. She was so proud.

"I am." I said, then promptly stripped off my uniform shirt. I was wearing a thin white t-shirt underneath. The action made me wince.

"What's wrong, Adams?" Fabian stepped forward, looking at me. She knows how high my pain tolerance is, so if I was even wincing, something was seriously wrong.

"I'm good. It's a minor injury." I told her. Then I looked at Palmer. "We won."

Palmer studied me. "Why do you think you won?"

"I got the flag back to the command post."

"You threw it into the command post."

"You never specified that a member of our team had to be with the flag. According to the parameters you set, which was to get the flag and bring it back to the command post, which I did, we won."

Palmer's eyes narrowed. Then her face broke into a grin. "You got me there. Your team won."

"Go team Ji Shari!" Buck said, exuberantly, slapping me on the back.

I think I shrieked. I know I made a loud noise. I also know it startled everyone. I also know that there was an explosion of pain that made functioning impossible.

I became aware of people calling my name. There were hands on me. Fucking hell, you guys, stop fondling me. I don't even know who's touching me.

"Okay, hands off, people! For the love of all things holy, stop touching me!" I shouted, staggering back, my chest heaving with those stupid fucking tiny breaths. I just wanted to fill my lungs, but the pain stopped me. Fucking hell.

"Adams, you need to go to medical." Locke was in front of me. If he'd been touching me, I swear to god I was going to rip out my broken ribs and stab him with them.

"I am medical!" I shouted at him. "I. Am. _Fine_." I jabbed a finger at Vale. "Your teammate, howerver, is _not_. _She_ has possible internal injuries and it is imperative that you get _her_ down to medical. _I_ can take care of _myself_!"

Everyone was silent.

"Commander Palmer!" I shouted. "Is there anything else you need from me?"

Palmer was trying so hard to mask her amusement with feigned concern. "No, Adams, that is all."

"Thank you. Requesting dismissal to take Spartan Vale to medical and to go take care of my broken ribs!" I was still shouting, my arms were slightly hanging out from my sides, I was leaning forward slightly in an aggressive posture. I was taught through the entirety of my childhood that when you were freaking out, you put on as aggressive a front as possible. I think I was scaring everyone. Whatever. They could deal.

"Broken ribs? As in plural?" Fabian's eyes widened.

"Yes, broken ribs, Major. Chiefy Wiefy broke two of my ribs."

Palmer coughed. "Adams, you're dismissed. Vale, you are too. Both of you down to medical."

I opened my mouth.

Palmer held up a hand. "The medical that isn't you, Adams."

I closed my mouth, nodded at the room full of people, and waved for Vale to follow me.

She did.


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as we had gotten into the corridor, Vale grabbed my arm. "Stop. I'm not taking another step until you tell me how in the hell you can speak Sangheili."

I whirled around. "And I won't tell you until you get your ass to medical. So you can either drop dead here, or we can go." I stepped up to her, looking into her face. She was a foot taller than me, but I was better at the sheer intimidation thing. "Because my injuries are non-life threatening and I can wait here a long, long time."

Vale studied my face for what seemed like an eternity. Then she stepped back. "Fine. But you're telling me the second we get to medical."

I nodded. "Okay."

Neither of us said anything the entire way to medical.

This was exactly what I'd intended. If my secret was to come out, Vale would be furious at me for not telling her, so it was much more advantageous for me to tell her myself.

We made it to medical and I blew off the medical staff with "I'm a medic, I already did a combat assessment and I know what caused the injury, give me a goddamn exam room." They did.

I'm very good at intimidation.

We got into the room and I stripped off my shirts, wearing only my sports bra. "Fuck." I said softly, as I looked down at my ribcage, which was an impressive shade of green and purple. "That's not good."

Vale sucked in her breath. "The Chief did that."

I nodded as I fumbled with the medical scanner and quickly ran it over my body.

Vale frowned. "What happened to your arm?"

I glanced down at the puckered scars that formed a suspicious mandible shape around my left shoulder. "Uh. It was a-um-dog. A large dog. When I was a child."

Vale raised her eyebrows. "A dog."

"Yeah. A dog. I'm going to get my ribcage out of the way before I get started on you." I said abruptly, turning away.

Apparently, it was only hairline fractures on my ribcage. They were broken, technically, but they were still intact and would only need some binding to keep them where they should be while I was breathing. I grabbed some tape and ordered Vale to change into a gown.

As soon as Vale was in a gown and on the examination table and I was running the scanner across her torso, whilst simultaneously taping my broken ribs, she asked her burning question. "How can you speak Sangheili?"

I decided to be an ass. "I don't speak Sangheili."

"Don't give me that bullshit. I know you do. Your pronunciation was perfect, and you spoke with a particular accent, the Iruiru region accent."

I opened my mouth to give more of that bullshit and she stopped me. "No, don't even go there. I'm very familiar with the Sangheili language, it's particular accents and dialects and how they're spoken. _Don't. Bullshit. Me._ " She glared at me. "I'm fluent. I've been speaking it from a very young age."

I smiled. "Me too. Since I was old enough to talk, actually. Stop moving or you'll fuck up this scan."

She exhaled slowly. "Who taught you?"

I looked up at the sky, as if I was thinking hard. "Um...my mother."

Vale narrowed her eyes at me "And how did your mother learn to speak it?"

I pretended to think hard again. "Probably the same way you did. But she learned the Iruiru dialect from my father."

Vale was clearly getting impatient with my horrifyingly vague answers because she inhaled sharply and looked up at the ceiling. "And how does your father know Sangheili?"

"Hmmmmm..." I said, looking at the monitor of the scanner. "I'm going to venture a guess it's because he's Sangheili?"

Vale was floored. "Your father is Sangheili."

"Mmhmm." I said casually, still studying the monitor. "Good news. It looks like you only have bruising. You probably got hit by debris when the explosive went off. You're fine."

Vale made a noise of irritation. "Your father is a Sangheili? From where? What state? You look human. Is your mother human?"

"Yes, from Nradaman and yes." I said, as casually as possible.

"N...Nradaman?" Vale stuttered. "You're from Nradaman?" She sat straight up on the bed. "Oh my god." She put a hand up to her forehad. "Oh my fucking god." Vale was staring at me like I'd never had my mandibles surgically removed.

I looked at her, wide eyed and innocent. "What?"

"You're the half breed child. You're Khase 'Nradaman." She was still staring at me, eyes wide in shock.

"Yes." I said, smiling. "And thank you for pronouncing my name correctly. It's rare for a human to get it on the first try."

"B-b-but-" Vale took a heaving breath and jabbed a finger at me. "I know your parents. I met your mother. I helped establish her there as an ambassader. I was at your parents wedding."

"Was it nice? I never got an invite."

She rolled her eyes. "You shithead."

I just kept smiling.

"Your father is Kal 'Nradaman. Your mother is Annabella 'Nradaman. Thel 'Vadam was your protector." She shook her head. "And I'm on your combat exercise team."

"Bingo!" I said, cheerfully.

She looked up at me. "I'm going to ask a very, very offensive question."

I shrugged. "Like I haven't gotten any of those before."

She half smiled. "It's incredibly offensive, but here it goes: You looked much more Sangheili than you do now when you were born. You had mandibles. You looked like a human with mandibles stretched over a young Sangheili frame. What happened?"

I shot her a look. "How do you know what I looked like?"

She looked away. "Thel 'Vadam showed me one of your baby photos a while back."

Why did she have to say that? Why? Good fucking god, why did she have to say that?

I leapt to my feet, knocking over a chair, slamming my hands on the scanner table. "He _WHAT_?"

No one was supposed to have any of those except for my mother! No one! Not a single solitary soul oustide of my parents was suppposed to have any physical proof of how hideous I was as a baby! What the fuck!?

Vale put her hands up, concern on her face. "He showed me one of your...baby photos?"

I leaned forward and put both hands on the scanner table. "He showed you one of my baby photos." I shook my head and let out a sarcastic laugh. "That's fantastic."

"What's wrong?"

"He has one of my goddamn baby photos!" I shouted.

Vale suddenly laughed. "He may have one of your old baby photos but I'll bet my ass that you haven't told him what you do in the UNSC."

She had me there and she knew it. I sighed. "No. No, I have not. And I don't intend to. At least not yet."

"So technically, you two are even."

I tapped my finger and gritted my teeth. "Yeah." No, we weren't even. I still had one of his energy swords, so technically I was still ahead. But I wasn't about to tell Vale that. Apparently they were best buds, and she would probably tell him I had it, and then he would tear my ass a new one. I felt a twinge when I thought about how close they must be. A weird twinge. An unfamiliar twinge, but it was definitely a negative twinge. I hate weird, unfamiliar and decisively negative twinges I cant identify.

"If you must know, I don't look like that terrifying mutant baby in the photo anymore because my mom got me some quality plastic surgery. " I said, answering her offensive question, and pointing to my scars. "So instead of horrifically ugly mutant Sangheili/human hybrid thing, I'm now a mildly attractive human girl."

She laughed. "You're a bit more than mildly attractive, but I'll agree with you on the mutant part."

"Are we having a lesbian moment? Because I can't decide whether to be flattered you called me more than mildly attractive or truly offended that you basically called me a mutant, and if we're having a lesbian moment I feel it would be more productive to be flattered."

Vale rolled her eyes. "We're not having a lesbian moment."

"Just checking."

There was silence as we both looked at each other.

"So you don't go by your real name?" Vale asked.

"No. My mother was worried people might react badly." I sighed and leaned the table. "So she got Admiral Hood to get me into the UNSC under a pseudonym."

Vale looked impressed. "Wow. So you're a faker. But a faker under the protection of Admiral Hood."

"Not directly. But if anyone gives me shit, I'm supposed to tell my superior officer, who tells their superior and all the way up the chain until it reaches Admiral Hood." I made a face. "It makes me feel like I only got this far because I know people."

"That's bullshit. You got this far because you're a good soldier." Vale folded her arms.

"You're not obligated to tell me-"

"Shut up for one second." Vale stared me down. "You're a good soldier. You took out Frederic. You took on the Chief, hand to hand. Your strategy for winning was solid. If your friend hadn't jumped you, you'd have easily surprised Chief, taken her out and then won the whole thing. But your friend apparently knew what you were going to do, so she took advantage of that, which is a disadvantage you don't have on the battlefield." She gave a sligh smirk. "You're a good medic. You totally disregarded Palmer's debriefing to make sure no one was injured. You also knew I had nothing but bruises but made it out like I had life threatening internal injuries just to get me alone so you could tell me about yourself in the most incredibly frustrating manner."

"So...my stellar situational manipulation skills prove I'm a good medic?"

Vale laughed. "No, they prove you're a great manipulator."

Well, that was a backhanded compliment if I'd ever heard one.

"Thanks, I think. Now get dressed. We have to get you back to Palmer. Also, you look stupid in that gown." I told her.

She pulled off the gown and started to get back into her uniform. "One more question."

"Only one."

"What really happened to your arm?"

"My cousin tried to chew it off out of spite."

"Sangheili family drama, hm?"

"You could say that."

We parted ways after we left the medical center. I joined my team in the training room. It was pretty crowded. I wanted to work out, but my body was telling me that if I did, it would really fuck me over.

I approached Christy. "So you'll be happy to know your fancy flash grenade to mimic a grenade didn't do any damage to Vale."

Christy sighed in relief. "Good. I was kind of worried I had injured a Spartan. Don't get me wrong, that would also be pretty cool, but I was also really worried."

I laughed. "She's fine."

Looking around the training room, I noticed there were several groups of people staring at us. One was a bunch of guys that were clearly special ops. How could I tell? Because they were ridiculously beefed out, but only on their upper bodies. It was clearly only for looks, not functionality. Also, special ops guys hang out in little groups together. They all try to look the same: tall, fit (upper body only), egoistical and narcissistic. I'm probably a little biased, since Johanson and Fucking Tyler are former special ops, but they looked the exact same as these guys. McCoy was the only special ops guy I could stand. Mostly because he didn't talk much.

They were definitely staring. I stared back. One of them broke away from the group and walked towards us, maintaining eye contact with me. He did the tough guy swagger thing that he obviously thought made him look sexy and cool but actually made him looking like an absolute douchebag.

"So. You're part of the new ODST team. How long you think you guys'll last? Two weeks?" He smirked.

"If it means pissing you off, I could last 50 years here." I smiled.

He looked a little surprised, like he hadn't expected me to significantly raise the shit talking bar. He didn't know who he was dealing with. I would out-shit-talk anyone, anywhere, any time. I was a shit talking expert.

Christy touched my elbow, telling me that she was right behind me if things went south.

"You think you're tough, don't you?" He smirked, then flexed. "Bet you couldn't beat me in a fight."

I pretended to think it over. "Probably not today, since I just took out Frederic-104 in a combat exercise and duked it out with the Master Chief." I smiled brightly. "You should definitely try that. He cracked two of my ribs. But I kicked him in the throat, so we pretty much called it even."

Your move, asshole.

He glowered. "I guess we have a hotshot here, don't we?"

"We do. And it's definitely not you, so that pretty much leaves me." I turned back to Christy. "Unless he's talking about you, taking out Edward Buck and Olympia Vale with that explosive device."

I'd definitely pissed him off by now. That was fine. Enemies made things interesting.

"Is there a problem here?" Another special ops douchebag walked up. Except this douchebag was a commanding officer.

"I'm not sure. He seems to be asking me for a fight. Whether it's in good fun or because he has the urge to overcompensate is yet to be seen." I told Commanding Douchebag.

Commanding Douchebag gave me a once over. "You're too fat to be able to fight him. You'd lose, and horribly. So I think that's a terrible idea, don't you, Robertson?" He turned back to Douchebag Jr., who was apparently named Robertson.

Fat? That was one thing I'd never been accused of being before. I wasn't even offended. Just mystified. I was fit. My muscle structure was superb. I was a lean, mean, fighting machine. I just happened to weigh a little over 200lbs and have a little bit of a bigger frame than most human girls.

Commanding Douchebag gave me the once over again. "I take it back. You're not fat. You just look like a man. A small man, but still a man. Are you?" He squinted at me.

What, was he 12? What even were these insults.

I threw a look back to Christy, who looked offended enough for the both of us.

I smiled coyly. "Why, yes. I am a man. 'sup, baby?" I looked him up and down and gave an air kiss in his direction.

He made a barfing noise. "That's why you're still a virgin."

It's like the part of his brain he clearly dedicated to insults never aged past adolesence.

"Nah. I'm still a virgin because all the guys in the UNSC are either married, gay or like you."

He laughed condescendingly. "Sweetheart, most women would kill for a chance to get with this." He made hip thrusting motions.

I heard Christy utter a "Good god" as Robertson laughed loudly and high fived his commanding officer.

At least the guy had made it into insults worthy of someone in their late teens.

"Most. If you two were the last men on earth, I'd definitely choose dying alone." I smiled.

Robertson stepped forward. "You bitch."

"I prefer the term 'shithead'. Or is that too big of a word for you to say?"

Robertson's face contorted, and he stepped foward. "You watch yourself-" He examined my name tag. "-Adams. You don't know who you're dealing with."

I looked at him with an expression of pity. "I'm pretty sure I'm talking to an absolute moron."

Robertson stepped forward and started to say something, but Commanding Officer Douchebag (he was actually a lieutenant, and his nametag said Iverson, but I preferred to call him Commanding Officer Douchebag. Had a better ring to it) stopped him. "Wait. I recognize you from somewhere."

I shot him a strange look. "No, you don't. I've never seen you before, and I'd remember a face as irritating as yours."

He shook his head and gestured at me with an index finger. "No, you look familiar. You look really familiar."

Christy, Robertson and I waited while Doucheface wracked his miniscule brain. Suddenly, the realization of where he'd seen me before dawned on him. "You worked at the Midnight Facility."

Okay. Maybe he did recognize me. He was probably one of the guys responsible for torturing prisoners for information. He seemed like enough of a jackass to excel at that job. "Yeah, I was at Midnight for a bit." I looked at him, trying to find some semblance of familiarity. Nope. Didn't recognize him.

He smirked, stepped back and folded his arms. "Yeah, you did. I remember now. I was in charge of personnel files. I remember seeing yours. I don't remember a whole lot a personnel files, but I do remember yours."

Uh. What? Who gave this guy access to my personnel file? People weren't supposed to have access to my personnel files unless they were pre-approved by Admiral fucking Hood. Why would Hood approve this average douchebag to look at anyone's files?

I started feeling a bit lightheaded. He said he specifically remembered mine. There was only one reason anyone should remember my personnel file, and it wasn't because I was a great ass medic. Although that SHOULD be the reason people remember my personnel files. I was the first person to successfully use trepanation in a combat situation to relieve an epidural hematoma. Why doesn't anyone remember that? I saved my sergeant's life by drilling a hole in his head to relieve pressure when his brain started bleeding. It went perfectly and he didn't have any complications afterwards. No complications! I used a hand drill to put a hole in his skull in the middle of a firefight and he was fresh as a daisy afterwards! How is that less noteworthy than my name? People are never impressed by the right things.

"Was it because of the trepanation I did in 2555?" I asked. Just say yes. Give me this one thing. It would be so nice if someone was impressed by that for once.

His face wrinkled. "No? What-no. I don't even know what that means."

I fought off a sigh. Of course he didn't.

Christy kicked the back of my ankle. She was trying to tell me to put my ego away and focus on the fact that I was probably about to be outed in the worst of ways.

Doucherson Doucheface turned to Robertson. "I told you about that. Remember? That chick with the weird name?"

Robertson looked like he had just cracked the Da Vinci Code. "The one we thought was Sangheili?"

Well, at least someone finally said it.

"Yeah, yeah." Douchey pointed at him like he was an absolute genius.

Robertson folded his arms and looked at me. "Are you?"

"Am I what? Sangheili?" I spread my arms out. "Of course! You didn't notice? With my mandibles, and the grey skin, and being an 8 foot tall lizard thing, how could you not?"

My sarcasm is deadly sometimes. Christy backed me up with some condescending laughter. Christy, ever the champ. Always there to laugh condescendingly so I don't need to do it myself. Everyone needs a condescending laugher in their life.

"Okay, but like, your eyes are kind of a yellowish color. And you've got weirdass scars on your face. And your body's weird. You could've had augmentations. Your mom's somebody important and she's human and she could've gotten that done when you were little." Robertson raised an eyebrow at me.

When did he suddenly turn into Sherlock fucking Holmes? Was this his one moment of genius he would have in his life? If so, why the hell did it have to happen now.

"Rude. My eyes are a warm honey brown. And it was a knife fight. Plus, some people are just ugly. You should know that better than anyone." I retorted.

Robertson and Iverson, The Douche Duo, looked at each other, then back at me and they smirked in unison. Good god, these two.

"You're a liar. And you're not Sangheili." Iverson stepped forward and whispered, "You're a half breed."

Half breed is something that humans call people that are the product of interspecies relationships. It's considered a slur. I once met a girl who was half Kig-Yar. An incredible hisser. It was terrifying. People only called her a half breed behind her back, since the hissing thing was so scary. I didn't have that kind of advantage. I wish I could hiss menacingly. That would be cool. I would be so down with having the ability to scare people by hissing.

Fun fact about us 'half breeds'. Nobody wants us. Humans look at us with disgust, because we're a great example of what they call being a 'race traitor'. Like it was our fault our human parent didn't hate an alien race the way most humans think they should. The alien race of our other parent hates us, because they think humans are weak and shitty and we represent the weakness and shittyness of humanity that has tainted their perfect alien blood.

They don't really hate our parents, because they share something in common with our parents. So all that resentment and hatred that they have? It gets taken out on us, the kids. I don't hate my parents. You don't choose who you fall in love with. And expecting them to take steps to prevent reproduction is totally unrealistic. It's not their fault that everything got so fucked up that different races hate each other so much. All I can do is really live with it, and try not to let it get to me. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't.

I just stared him down. I'm not going to be ashamed of something I can't control. I'm not going to deny it. I'm not going to make him think that calling me that will make me feel bad about something that is an intrinsic part of myself.

"Adams. Commander Palmer needs a report on the extent of your injuries."

It wasn't Christy who had spoken. It wasn't Fabian. It was someone with a deep, husky voice, a recognizable voice. A voice that had the distinct tinge of laryngitis.

I turned, and saw Chief. I straightened up and put my hands behind my back, facing him. I don't know about those two toads, but I was going to be the picture of military professionalism.

The Chief looked from the Douche Duo to me and Christy and then back to them. "Is there a problem?"

They were both still standing with their arms folded, staring at me. Iverson spoke. "Yes, sir. My team doesn't feel comfortable with this soldier in the training room."

The Chief's face was as impassive as ever. "And why is that?" He asked, patiently. Too patiently. He was annoyed. Most people wouldn't be able to pick up on it, but I could. My mother does the same thing when she's dealing with people she detests.

"My team doesn't trust half breeds. We've lost too many good men to the Covenant for that. " Iverson was still glaring at me.

The Chief's eyebrows knitted together, slightly. He was confused, poor guy. He was very confused. "I don't understand, Lieutenant."

Iverson looked at him. "This soldier is half Sangheili. We don't want someone who has ties to the enemy in here."

Okay, does he not realize that Thel 'Vadam, a Sangheili, and the Chief are friends? Because they are. They've worked together many times. Does he think Chief is going to share his sentiments and kick me out of the training room? Kick me off the ship? Seriously. What is he even trying to do here?

"I see." The Chief folded his arms and faced Iverson, mirroring his posture. "You're dismissed."

Iverson and Robertson looked shocked, then furious, but they obeyed. There was nothing they could say or do.

The Chief looked at me. "Palmer needs an update." He turned and started to walk away. I guess I was supposed to follow

I threw a look at Christy, who gave me a look back, and waved her hand at me to go. Alright, already. I was going.

When I got to the corridor, the Chief put a hand out to stop me. "What was that all about?"

"Well, my mother is human and my dad is Sangheili and I grew up on the planet and decided to join the UNSC and become a medic, which is the most embarassing thing a Sangheili can do, and since people have understandable lingering resentment towards Sangheili my mother used her pull as an ambassador to Sangheilios with Admiral Hood, who thinks good relations with the Sanheili is important, to get me into the UNSC under a fake name so that people wouldn't know I was actually part Sangheili, since I look human enough to pass thanks to plastic surgery when I was about six years old and it seems like that guy knows I'm Sangheili because somebody put him in charge of personnel files at the Midnight Facility and he recognized me from the personnel file and decided to get in my face about it an insult me which means that all the work my mother and Hood have done to keep people from knowing I'm part Sangheili means jack shit now because that guy is definitely going to tell everyone he sees about it because he hates me and wants other people to also." I heaved in a breath.

Way to go, Adams. Why don't you just tell him your life story? I'm sure he'd love to hear every boring ass detail of that too.

Chief blinked. His blue eyes were on mine, so I saw that blink clearly. "Ah."

That's it? I just revealed my deepest, darkest secret and all he was going to say was 'ah'? Talk about anticlimactic.

"So...Yeah." And then came the awkward silence. Should I mention something about Thel 'Vadam, like "Hey Chief, how's Thel doing? I haven't seen him in a while and we're bff's just like him and you are"?

"I know a little bit about what it's like for people to think you're a monster just because you're different. Because someone made you different in a way that you didn't ask for and you're not sure you even wanted." He said, quietly.

I was pretty sure that was the most long winded speech I'd ever heard him give. But it was necessary. For once, it felt like someone understood. Someone knew what it was like to have people hate you for something you had no control over and worked every day of your life to either hide or make up for.

His blue eyes held a soft, understanding expression. He was standing so, so close to me, his face gentle. That face that seemed a thousand years old and seemed so tired from all he had lost, all he had seen, and all that he had been through. The face that held lines from being in countless battles, through so many years.

I reached out and touched his face with my fingertips, lightly. I don't know why.

It was like an electrical shock went through my body. I felt the warmth of him spread from my fingertips, down my arm and through my entire being.

His eyes widened slightly, and he suddenly stepped back, away from me.

Oops.

I pulled my arm back and rubbed the back of my neck with it, then cleared my throat. "Uh, Palmer. Right. She's..." I turned towards the lift.

"The bridge." He said. "With Captain Lasky."

"Perfect. Okay." I walked towards the lift as quickly as I could and practically threw myself inside.

The Chief stood stiffly outside the elevator Adams had just hurried into. His face still burned where she touched him.

No one touched him like that. No one ever touched him with the amount of understanding and compassion that she had. No one ever touched him with any kind of tenderness.

He took a breath and rubbed the side of his face. She'd touched him. Not just physically, but in a way he couldn't quite describe. She'd seen him as no one else did, as a soldier that had been robbed of a childhood, forced into a fight he'd never asked for. Seen him as the person that everyone thought was devoid of humanity, who's only purpose was to fight. She'd seen so much more of him in that one moment than most had seen in years.

His heart was still pounding, and his mind was still reeling. He didn't know what to think or what to feel. But he did know that he wished he hadn't stepped back.

I entered the bridge and saw Palmer and Lasky passing tablets back and forth between each other. They seemed busy. Should I just walk up? Should I say something? Should I just stand here awkwardly?

I opted for standing there awkwardly at attention. Palmer finally saw me and waved me over.

"Adams. Glad to see you. What's your status?"

"Bruised, sir."

Palmer cracked a grin. "Bruised is good, right?"

"Better than broken, sir."

Lasky was looking at me strangely. "Bruised?"

I opened my mouth to explain, but Palmer beat me to it. "She had a bit of a knock down drag out with the Chief earlier."

"A bit." I snorted. The guy broke my ribs.

Lasky raised an eyebrow. "And you're still standing?"

"I'm slippery."

Palmer at Lasky. Lasky looked at her. They spent a million fucking years just looking at each other.

What? Why are you looking at each other?

"Adams..." Lasky took a breath, then fucking looked at Palmer _again_. "I, uh, received some news a few minutes ago."

Okay. Was he going to tell me the news? Or were we going to play 20 Questions? Or was he just going to make cryptic eye contact with Palmer and leave me in the dark?

Palmer stepped forward. "What Tom is trying to say is that someone got a hold of sensitive information concerning you. We don't know who else has gotten a hold this sensitive information, but someone had the foresight to report it to us so we weren't surprised by the information, and we wanted to make sure you knew. Since it concerned you."

Tom? She called him Tom? Interesting. They were on a first name basis.

They were apparently waiting for me to look horrified, or tear my clothes, or scream in agony at the heavens or something. But I wasn't going to. I'd spent my entire UNSC career preparing for this to happen and I'd be damned if I didn't have a great reaction all planned out.

"Oh god. Someone found out my middle name."

Palmer and Lasky looked completely confused. It was great. I had no fake middle name. Sangheili don't do middle names either.

Their faces were priceless.

"Uh. No." Palmer said, squinting at me.

I couldn't keep the corners of my mouth from twitching. Palmer caught that and squinted harder at me.

I sighed. "Look. I know who got a hold of the information. I knew this information was bound to come out sometime. There's nothing I can do about it, except keep it together."

Lasky and Palmer fucking looked at each other again. Again, with the stupid fucking cryptic looking.

Lasky put his hand on my shoulder. "There's not a whole lot we can do, except try and keep people under control if they give you trouble. I've alerted Hood to the situation. He's getting extra personnel on standby to transfer to the Infinity when we have to start removing people from this post."

"What?" I stared at him. "Why would you remove people from the Infinity?"

"If they start acting with hostility towards you-"

"Then I'll take care of it." I looked back and forth between them. "I'll handle it. I'm a big girl. I'm done having people in charge do things for me. I can take care of myself, and I can handle anything they throw at me."

Lasky and Palmer both looked at the ceiling, the ground, anywhere but me. At least they weren't looking at each other.

"Alright." Lasky said, slowly. "But if anyone attempts to become physically violent with you-"

"Then I'll take care of it. I don't need protecting." I lifted my chin. "My honor is mine to defend and mine to uphold. Sir."

Lasky smiled. "How Sangheili of you."

I shrugged. "I try."

Palmer dismissed me, and I left the bridge.

I walked into the mess hall, looking for my team. They all sat at a table together, yelling at each other, as usual. Then, McCoy saw me and stopped talking. Slowly, one by one, the whole table went silent and was staring at me. Like I was going to come over there and cry or something. I started to walk towards my team, and then I heard someone off to my right yell out "Wort wort wort!"

Like hell I was going to give that asshole the satisfaction of knowing I'd even heard them.

I sat down next to Christy and said breezily. "It's okay guys, my ribs are only bruised. The Chief didn't do any permanent damage-oh, wait. That's not why you're all looking at me funny."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Lily Victor asked, leaning forward. "We're your team. We're with you, all the way. It doesn't matter to us." Victor was so great. I almost started to like her.

"I'm sorry, Adams. I wouldn't have said anything about your skin if I'd known." Johanson burst out.

Aw, Johanson. That warmed my cold, dead heart a little.

"Have you ever met the Arbiter?" Tyler asked, also leaning forward.

"Can you speak Sangheili?"

"Does the Captain know?"

"Now you guys know why she can throw me on the ground so easily. It's not because I'm a wimp."

The last part was Christy's contribution. I'd let her have that moment. You know, to make up for all the times I'd forced her to practice hand to hand with her and subsequently mopped the floor with her face. I owed her this one moment.

"Yeah, that has a lot to do with why I can throw you on the ground so easily, Chris." I told her. "You're not a wimp."

"Thank you, Kasey. Thank you. I really appreciate that." She said, stealing a tomato off my salad.

"Get off my food."

"No."

"Fuck you."

She made a "what are you going to do" face at me as she took another tomato.

I sighed. "Guys. I had orders not to tell you. My entire personnel file was supposed to be classified. Fabian was the only one here who knew, because she had to." I was covering for Christy. If they knew that I'd told her, they might resent the two of us, and I was going to have more than enough resentment from everyone else to deal with. I looked around at them. "I'm sorry. But not even I'm ballsy enough to disobey Admiral Hood."

"That's fair." Arden said, jabbing his fork at me. "I'd be scared shitless to disobey Admiral Hood." He took a bite. "Have you ever met Hood?"

"Nope."

"I did, once. He's a terrifying old man."

I choked on a laugh.

Ewing, who was on my right, opposite of Christy, put a hand on my shoulder. "Seriously, though. We're all here. We're not going to let anyone fuck with you. We all made the same promise: feet first into hell."

Everyone at the table nodded. I blinked back tears. Fucking hell. I was about to tear up. All this fucking emotional bonding shit was too much. I need to punch something, or someone.

It was like the universe answered my request. Something hit me in the back of the head.

"What the fuck-" I turned around, and locked eyes with Robertson. Fucking Robertson. He was at the table behind us, sitting next to Iverson and a few other special ops douchebags. Fantastic.

"Can I help you, Robertson?" I demanded.

"Yeah. You can get off the ship and go fuck yourself."

Had to give him points for an insult that wasn't shitty.

"I'd give you the same advice, but you'd probaby misunderstand and end up in a closet somewhere with your head up your ass." I called to him, then turned back around. "Fuck that guy." I mumbled.

"What an ass." Ewing shook his head.

"That guy's lieutenant is the reason everyone hates her now." Christy spat out.

"Really?" Johanson leaned forward. "You want me to go flatten them, Adams?"

"No, I'd like to save that delightful occurrance for myself, but I appreciate the offer. " I said, grinning at Johanson. I think it was the first time I smiled at him.

McCoy, who sat right across from me started gesturing wildly, with an almost terrified expression on his face. "Uh-uh-Adams-"

Suddenly, I was on the floor, on my back, out of my chair. Robertson's face was over me. He took a couple steps back as I lept off the floor. I wasn't hurt, not remotely. But I was pissed off.

"Get up, half breed."

I had already gotten up, so that was a totally unnecessary thing to say. I faced him. "What do you _want_ , Robertson?"

"I want you gone."

Iverson and the rest of his team had also stood up at their table. My team was already on their feet too. Fabian was grabbing various team members. She knew I had to handle this, or I was going to have problems on this ship until an ODST mission finally put me out of that misery. But she was also on her comm unit, talking to someone. Which meant she thought someone here may want to know what was going on.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm not getting off this ship. I was assigned here because I'm good. Because I'm _better than you_. That's why I'm a part of Infinity's ODST Team, and you're not. Because I am superior to you in every way. Get the fuck off my back. I'm done with you." I swore under my breath as I blew by him, to leave the mess hall.

He grabbed my arm. I wrenched it out of his grasp. "Don't fucking touch me."

"Or what, half breed? You'll walk away again?" Robertson taunted, as I turned to go.

You know what? I really did just want to leave. But at the same time, I just wanted his prejudiced ass to just leave me alone and stop trying to make me feel like who I was and what I couldn't change made me worthless and made him better than me somehow. So I turned and I faced that asshole. "Not right now, I'm not. Right now, I'm telling you to shut up and go away."

"So the half breed finally grew a spine." He laughed maliciously. Iverson and the table of groupies followed suit. Damn. He had a whole table of people to laugh maliciously, and I only had one person to laugh condescendingly. I was outnumbered on the laughing front.

"I've actually had a spine since the third trimester, thanks." I retorted, and was immensely satisfied at the confusion that crossed his face.

It only lasted for a moment, and then I regretted my sass a little, as he took a step forward and got right into my face. "You don't belong here. You don't belong anywhere. Except in the ground with the rest of the dead covenant, Adams.

What? I wasn't even religious. The Sangheili weren't part of the Covenant anymore, save a few extremist groups. Whatever, though. Can't expect people like him to have a modicum of intelligence or critical thinking skills.

Lasky and the Chief stepped into mess hall's breezeway and saw two Marines face to face, one clearly hostile, the other clearly on guard. One of them was Adams. Chief's pulse quickened. The sight of her affected him and he wasn't sure if he liked that.

When Lasky saw that it was Adams, he stepped forward, clearly intending to put a stop to what he was sure the problem was, but a hand on his chest stopped him. Chief looked to the right and saw Palmer was standing just inside the door to the mess hall, watching the two Marines.

"Don't, Tom. Let it play out." She said softly.

"She shouldn't have to be subjected to this kind of treatment." Lasky argued, quietly.

"Give her a chance to stand up for herself. If she doesn't, then step in. But for now, let it play out. Let her have that chance."

Chief reluctantly agreed with Palmer. "They'll never leave her aone if you step in right now."

He could tell Lasky was struggling. It went against everything in Lasky to stand by and watch, but it had to be done. Finally, Lasky gave in, warily watching the two Marines.

"Get out of my face, half breed." Robertson snarled at me.

"You're the one who got in my face. Step back if you don't like it." I snarled back. Seriously. He's the one who got in my personal space, and now he's going to complain that I'm in his? Yeah, no.

His lip curled, and he reached and shoved me with both hands, hard. I staggered backwards and he stepped forward to follow my momentum.

I grabbed him by the throat.

Like I said, I learned to fight from the minute I could walk. Thel 'Vadam made sure of that. He also made sure that I learned tactics that would help me as a half human girl be able to hold my own against a full grown Sangheili warrior. I can hold my own against most Sangheili warriors, thanks to him. Humans were also easy. When you spent a good part of your life duking it out with 8ft tall, 300+lb aliens, you can take out a human pretty easily. I could kick the shit out of Robertson if I wanted to, but I was honestly afraid I might end up killing him, which is the worst thing a medic could do. So I settled for tactical escalation, something Thel taught me. Tactical escalation is a way of avoiding a fight by escalating the level of violence dramatically so your opponent gets a little nervous and rethinks what they're doing and considers whether or not they really want to get into it with you. Use sheer intimidation to make them walk away from a fight. Granted, given his size and appearance, Thel 'Vadam was much better at the intimidation thing than I, a 5'8 girl barely over 200lbs was, but it was still worth a shot.

A slight bit of fear flashed in Robertson's eyes. Good. It seemed to be working.

Then he promptly wrenched my hand off his throat and slammed his fist into my face.

FUCK. FUCKING FUCKITY FUCK.

People act like being punched in the face is no big deal. That's bullshit. It is a big deal. That shit HURTS. It felt like my face exploded. My eyes were tearing up. My vision was clouded by bright lights. It hurt.

I staggered back and blinked, trying to clear my vision. I tasted blood. I thought it was from my nose, but I wasn't sure. Finally, my vision cleared up enough for me to see Robertson's stupid, ugly face laughing at me.

Lasky lunged forward when he saw Robertson drive his fist into Adams's face. Palmer and Chief grabbed him by his arms to hold him back.

Chief wanted nothing more than to give into the surge of adrenaline and anger that went through him, to go and pulverize Robertson into oblivion, into a whimpering mass of regret for hitting Adams, but he knew that if he stepped in to protect her, it wouldn't solve anythig. People would still come after her. They would just wait until he wasn't around. And if he couldn't intervene, he'd be damned if he'd let Lasky do it.

"Tom, don't. Just wait it out." Palmer said, gripping Lasky's arm.

Lasky relaxed slightly and shook them both off, then folded his arms, standing stiffly, clearly not happy about having to be a bystander.

Chief watched Adam's shake her head to clear it. Then she said something to Robertson.

I snarled something in Sangheili at Robertson. He looked confused and offended. "What does that mean?"

I repeated what I'd said. "It's Sangheili for 'little bitch'." I growled.

It wasn't. Sangheili don't really have a word that means 'little bitch'. However, we do have a word for "weak human". We have a word for "weak Jiralhanae". We have a word for "weak Hunter". We have a word for "weak Kig-Yar". One for "weak Grunt", which is a little redundant if you ask me, but whatever. We have several words for "weak Elite", depending on how weak the Elite in question is. Sangheili pretty much think that weak is the worst thing you can be, so calling him a weak human was about the worst insult a Sangheili can bestow on the human of choice. We don't really have a word for "weak Flood", though, it's more like a word that means "FUCK IT'S THE FLOOD OH SHIT FUCK ME UP THE ASS ITS THE GODDAMN FLOOD". But I digress.

I saw Robertson's face contort and he backhanded me. That one split my lip.

Fuck this asshole. I was fucking done.

I shoulder charged him, knocking his ass onto the ground.

Chief saw them exchange some words, and then saw Robertson strike Adams again. His blood boiled. Do something, he thought. Stop letting him hit you. He felt another rush of adrenaline and anger as Adams staggered back again from the blow.

But then he saw something in her demeanor change.

He was taken aback a little when he saw Adams suddenly charge at Robertson, hit him in the stomach with her shoulder, knock him to the ground, straddle him and start to choke him out. It was a little surprising, but very satisfying to watch.

"Uh, okay, Tom. I think you'd better step in now." Palmer motioned to the two soldiers on the gound.

Lasky, clearly waiting for that moment, strode forwards and cleared his throat.

One of Adams's squad members spotted him.

I vaguely heard Christy shout, "Officers on deck!"

Shit.

Motherfucking shit.

I rolled off Robertson, who started coughing from the sudden release of pressure on his windpipe, and got onto my feet to stand at attention. I dared to venture a look at Captain Lasky, who had leveled a cold gaze at me. "Care to explain what happened here, soldier?"

"We...got into a fight." I told him. "He threw food at me and it just happened from there."

Lasky's eyes registered amusement for a brief second, then grew cold again as he looked at Robertson, who had gotten to his feet. "Robertson, you're on night patrols for the next month. If I ever hear you refer to Adams as a 'half breed' again, it'll be for the rest of your life. Clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Get out of my sight." Lasky ordered, and Robertson scrambled out of the room.

Lasky looked me up and down. "You should go to medical."

"I am medical."

"That's fair." The corners of his mouth turned up. He turned to my team. "I heard that you all have a combat training exercise in a little while. You should probably go get yourselves prepared." My team slowly shuffled out, each of them giving me some measure of support, whether it was a hand on the shoulder or a sympathetic look, or a thumbs up. The thumbs up was, naturally, from Karl.

"Go take care of yourself." Lasky put a hand on my shoulder, his eyes warm. "I'm proud of you."

Awww. The Captain was proud of me.

"You're also relieved of your duties for the rest of the day, unless Vale needs you for something. She mentioned needing to talk to you." Then he turned to the Chief, who was standing stiffly behind him.

Aw, shit. Did the Chief witness the whole thing? Fuck me. He totally did. He was staring at me with an indiscernible expression those briliant blue eyes. Stop looking at me like that. I swear to god, Master Chief Pretty Officer, if you do not stop looking at me like that, you will be the next person I'll choke out. "Chief, if you could personally make sure that Adams does not try to participate in the combat exercise later, I would appreciate it."

Oh, great. I got my own personal Spartan babysitter.

"Palmer, since you saw more than we did, you get to send the report to Admiral Hood."

"Yes, sir." Palmer almost looked gleeful. Robertson was totally fucked. His whole regiment was fucked. That was a good feeling.

Lasky nodded at us, turned and left.

Palmer glanced between me and the Chief. "Well, I'm going to go start that report."

I liked Palmer. Really and truly liked her. But in that moment, I hated her for leaving me alone with the Chief.

We stood there in silence for a moment. I chose to look at the ground. "Sir?"

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Sir, stop looking at me like that."

"Like what, Adams?"

An involuntary shiver of delight ran down my spine when he used my (albeit fake) name. I doubt he could pronounce my real name. Damn you, Adams. Stop being such a sap.

"Like you pity me." I raised my head and looked straight into the blue eyes that were studying my face with a soft expression. Oh, they were so blue.

"I don't pity you."

"You do. You know what it's like. You've been there. That's why you pity me. And I'm telling you to stop." I saw a faint trace of telltale guilt in his eyes. "Or at least stop making it obvious you're looking at me with pity."

He started to say something, then stopped and looked at the ceiling. Then he looked away from me and said quietly, "I don't pity you. I only wish I'd been able to protect you."

Uh. What? Were we having a moment here? Apparently, we were.

I thought for a minute about my reply. "You did protect me. You protected me in the best way you could have-by letting me do what I needed to." I looked at him. "That's how I see it. I need to go clean up." I touched his arm as I walked by him, and felt the same warmth as I had before.

It was agonizing to leave him standing there when I had so much more I wanted to say.

"Fuck!" I inhaled sharply as I pulled the neede through my lip. I was stitching mysef up, since Robertson's open hand bitch slap had split my lip badly enough to the point I needed them. I didn't use anesthesia when I did my own medical procedures like this. It looked more badass when I didn't. Even when no one was around, I'd do it. You need to practice handling the pain when you're by yourself so you don't look like a litte bitch when you do it with an audience.

I was doing it the bathroom by my team's barracks. A rather unsanitary place to do it, but it was just stitches.

I heard someone enter. I assumed it was Fabian, or Christy.

Wait, it couldn't have been. They'd be in the training arena by now. I didn't turn to look because, obviously, I was kind of in the middle of something. I couldn't really talk either, as it's kind of hard to do sutures when your lip is moving around. I couldn't see whoever it was in the mirror either. So I just finished up my suturing and set down my medical equipment and turned to face whoever it was.

It was Vale. She was looking at me with both eyebrows raised.

"Hi." I said. Fuck, that hurt.

"Hi. That's impressive."

"Thanks. I've had a lot of practice." Ow, ow, ow.

She gestured to my equipment. "No anesthesia?"

"Nope. Don't need it." God, but it would've made things feel a lot better right now.

"Hardcore." She shifted.

"You clearly wanted to talk to me about something, otherwise you wouldn't be standing in a bathroom with me." I said, jabbing a pair of foreceps at her. "What's up?"

"I...I'm here to take you to the bridge." She said, tucking her short dark hair behind one ear.

"Why?" I asked, wrinkling my forehead.

She shook her head. "I don't know. I guess we'll find out."

Once Vale and I reached the bridge, we were ushered into a small briefing room on the bridge.

Christy, Fabian, Chief, Frederic and Locke were already there. Buck and Linda walked in at the same time as we did. I actually had no idea what Linda's name was until Lasky said, "Thanks for joining us, Buck, Linda."

Lasky greeted Vale and I, then. "Adams. Vale." Then he looked at me. "What's the extent of the injuries on you?" He asked.

I gestured to my face. "Superficial. I took care of it."

His eyes rested on my lip. "Good."

Then, Lasky looked around at the group, growing very serious. "This mission is important. Very important. About an hour ago, we received intelligence that the Servants of Abiding Truth have decided to stage an assault on Vadam Keep. For one purpose: to kill the Arbiter."

I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. Vale looked as sick as I did.

Lasky continued, "We can't send the Infinity for a full assault. Uul 'Nradaman, their current leader, made it very clear that they have a hostage important to us that they would not hesitate to kill if we sent in any assistance."

My blood ran cold. Uul 'Nradaman. My shithead cousin. That was who was leading the Sangheili religious extremist group bent on assassinating the Arbiter. The same one that had tried to bite my goddamn arm off. That fucker. I'd always hated that little bitch.

"Who's the hostage?" Frederic asked, looking nauseated himself.

Lasky looked at him, a weary expression. "You probably already guessed. It's Kelly."

Chief stiffened. Frederic stared at Lasky, his face white.

"What's our next move?" The Chief asked.

Lasky took a breath. "We send in a small team. A small team to infiltrate Vadam Keep under false pretenses." He looked at me and Vale. "Specifically, we send these two."

Uh. What? Me and Vale? On a very important mission where a Spartan's life was at stake?

Lasky continued. "We're going to send Adams and Vale to Vadam Keep under pretense of a diplomacy mission. We say they were tasked to meet with the ambassador there and the Arbiter to get an update on how relations between humanity and the Sangheili are progressing. Vale has been involved in diplomatic missions before. Adams, for obvious reasons, would be no suspect."

No, I wouldn't be suspect, but I would definitely become one of the targets. Uul 'Nradaman hates my guts. He always has. He'd be so thrilled to know I would be in Vadam Keep. Fucking hell.

"Once they're there and can get a good eye on the situation, get any intelligence they can, we send in the rest of you here. Do whatever we can to get Kelly out so that we can send in the Infinity and hopefully eradicate Uul 'Vadam and his forces." Lasky looked at all of us. "Kelly is one of us. She is one of our best soldiers. It's important we get her back. Thel 'Vadam is crucial to our relations with Sangheili. We need to do what we can to keep him alive. Any questions?"

Vale spoke up. "When do Adams and I leave."

"As soon as you're ready. Go."

Vale and I turned and looked at each other, then we sprinted out of the room. I made it back down to my barracks in record time, and started throwing the stuff I would need into a bag. Including an energy sword.

The door to my room opened, and I saw it was Karl and Greg. "Whoa, Adams. What are you doing? Did they kick you off the ship?"

I grunted as I shoved some medical supplies into my bag. "No, I'm going on a drop. An emergency drop."

They both looked shocked.

"A drop? Is that where Christy is? What's that?" Karl demanded.

He gestured to the (not activated) energy sword I was shoving into my bag.

"It's really better if you don't know what that is. Forget you saw it." I told him. "And yes, a drop. That's where Christy is. We're both going, but I'm leaving before her because this is important."

"How important?" Greg said, looking at me with a large measure of dread.

I looked at him. "I'm being sent on a drop to Sangheili."

They both inhaled sharply.

I finished packing my shit and hoisted the bag onto my shoulder and shoved past them. Then I turned. "I gotta go. Love you both." I clapped a hand on each of their shoulders and took off running down the corridor.

They knew I only said that when I was going into a situation I may not make it out alive of.

Vale and I got to the Pelican that would drop us off on Sangheili. Neither of us had weapons. Neither of us had any kind of armor. The only person with us was the pilot.

Well, she didn't have any weapons. I had the energy sword. But no one knew about that. No one was going to know about it until I had to use it.

Vale and I sat down across from each other in the Pelican.

"Well, this is going to be fun." She sighed.

"No kidding." I shifted in my seat.

Vale looked at me. "How long has it been since you've been there?"

"About two years."

"What did you do the last time you were there?"

"My mom threw a party. A party in Vadam Keep. It was intense."

"Sangheili parties are always intense. All that fighting."

"Yeah, generally when you go on leave, you're supposed to rest and recuperate. I don't. I get more rest and recuperation when I'm not on leave." I laughed.

She smiled. "Have you seen the Arbiter recently?"

I looked down at my lap. "No, not anytime recently."

My mind wandered back to the last time I'd seen him. I'd been staying at Vadam Keep on leave, in between post assignments. My mother had wanted to throw a party, and Thel had offered to host it.

Fun fact about parties among the upper echelon of Sangheili society: they throw the best fucking parties. Instead of dancing and mingling and all that bullshit, they have a shitload of alcohol and they all fight each other. I'm not kidding. There's pre-arranged group fights, pre-arranged one on one fights and then some areas where you can literally just grab someone and fight them on a whim, whether with weapons or hand to hand. People die at these parties. There's alcoholic beverages and fighting and it is the best thing ever. It's also used as an opportunity to engage in procreation. Since Sangheili warriors and high class Sangheili males have the ability to screw anyone indiscriminately to continue bloodlines and shit, they basically use these events to find female Sangheili they want to bone.

I'd been at the party, fighting, drinking and spectating for over six hours. I'd won all my fights because I am fucking awesome, I was comfortably intoxicated and I was fucking tired. I may have most of the muscle structure and the a great portion of the strength and the full intelligence, sense of smell and tactical abilities of a Sangheili, but I didn't have anywhere near the stamina. Damn you, wimpy human body. So I was just drinking some more and enjoying the chaos. Mostly watching Thel 'Vadam fight people. He was lethal with an energy sword. I think he'd mortally wounded his last opponent. I hadn't had the chance to talk with him yet, because everyone wanted a chance to go at the Arbiter. Of course, he'd won every time. He'd decided to take a break and go get something to drink. Seeing he had a moment, I stood up to go talk to him, but was stopped by a hulking Elite frame. It was Mal 'Vadam, one of the younger Elites. He had stopped to make conversation. Flirty conversation.

Elites totally think human women are attractive. They do. They just think they're weak and useless. I, however human I looked, was not weak and useless, so that upped my attractiveness factor to Sangheili males considerably. I'd always tried not to think about which species I would inevitably reproduce with, but I was open to either human or Sangheili, because both options seemed pretty equally awkward, reproductive wise, at this point. Thanks mom, thanks dad. No matter which species I end up having little mutant babies with, they're still going to be little mutant babies. But what the hell. I flirted back. Mal 'Vadam was a skilled warrior, which made him a solid choice to flirt with and he had already sired several children (that's a good thing for Sangheili warriors. I know, I know, culture shock) despite his young age. We were chatting it up, having a good time. Mal would periodically reach out and touch my hair or my shoulder, I would squeeze his arm a little, put a hand on his chest, you know. All that. I definitely wasn't going to get down and dirty with him, though. I made a vow of celibacy when I joined the UNSC, because there is nothing worse than being taken out by pregnancy or going on a drop with an old flame. I'd seen that happen way too many times to let that happen to me. I'd never gotten down and dirty. I'd had many, many offers, but I'd never really met anyone who gave me an interest in doing the do, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, I was having a good time. Mal seemed to be having a good time. At least until the deep voice of the Arbiter told him to move along because I was needed. I'd watched Mal 'Vadam walk away, and waved coyly at him as he did. Then I'd turned to Thel 'Vadam. "He's cute."

Thel was standing there with his arms folded. "Is he?"

"Yeah. All tall and...Sangheili." I could literally think of no other descriptive words. Sangheili cuteness is a totally subjective thing. For me, it means he was less ugly looking than most of the other ones. I classify all living things on an ugliness scale. Most ugly to least ugly.

He just looked down at me. "No."

"No what?"

"No, you will not be talking to him anymore."

I scoffed. "Is that an order, Lord Arbiter?"

He hated it when I called him that. "No, it is not an order. It is well meaning advice."

I rolled my eyes. "And why are you giving me said well meaning advice?"

"He is young and he is stupid. And he only has one intention, and it isn't to give you the attention you deserve." Thel was still staring down at me.

"Okay. Whatever you say." I waved a hand at him. Thanks, Arbiter. It's not like I'm an adult who can make her own decisions and her own mistakes. I happen to be incredibly skilled at making mistakes.

"Khase." His deep voice was still hard.

"Don't 'Khase' me. I'm a big girl, I can make my own decisions." I left off the rest of my train of thought because I didn't think it would steer the conversation in a direction I'd want it to go, the direction where he would reiterate all of my past terrible mistakes to me. Like the cliff diving incident. Almost lost my left boob because of that mistake.

"And I am trying to stop you from making a terrible one."

I rolled my eyes. "I wasn't going to make that mistake. I was just having fun." I chugged the rest of my drink, then gestured at him. "Go get me another one."

"Khase."

I gave him a wide eyed look, my eyebrows practically at my hairline. " _Go_."

He gave me a look, but still turned to go. That's right, the Arbiter was my bitch.

When he came back, he handed me my drink and then frowned disapprovingly as I downed that one too. "Khase, if you put yourself in the condition you seem to be bent on putting yourself in, your mother will kill me for enabling it."

I set the cup down and put my hand on my hip. "She threw this party for me. She should be expecting me to get totally shitfaced. I've been waiting to talk to you all night and you trying to parent me wasn't what I had in mind. So just stop."

I gestured at him. "I honestly just want to talk. About life and all that bullshit. I don't know. Like what have you been doing? How's your family? Have you seen my dad? Because I haven't. Not since I got back on this planet." Whoops. That last part was definitely drunk me. Sober me would never bring up my daddy issues.

Thel looked up to the ceiling, then back at me. "I have been in correspondance with Admiral Hood about the relocation of Forerunner artifacts on Earth to Sangheili. My family is fine. Your father is here, somewhere."

"Wow. Don't go into too much detail."

"Khase."

I stomped my foot, like a little kid. Because that's what I am when I'm drunk. A little fucking kid. "I literally just told you not even five minutes ago to not 'Khase' me. And you just did it again."

Thel folded his arms and just looked down at me, his amber eyes holding an expression I couldn't quite recognize. "What have you been doing with the UNSC?"

Aight. Time to spout off some bullshit I'd prepared just in case anyone asked me this. You know-training this, missions that, blah, blah, blah, Khase is definitely _not_ a doctor, that sort of stuff. I gave him the whole spiel. It was great. Masterfully crafted work of art that happened to include lying like a goddamn rug. He gave the appropriate nods, commentary, seemed interested.

When I finished, he crouched so he was eye level with me. "Khase, you are a wonderful liar. I appreciate you taking the time to concoct such a tale to tell me."

My drunk brain went into complete and total malfunction mode. "Uh. Huh?"

He stood back up to his full height, which mean in order to look at him, I had to crane my neck at an uncomfortable, and definitely unattractive angle. "Khase, you are not the infantry you're telling me you are. I put in a casual inquiry to Admiral Hood the last time he and I met to discuss business, and he gave me a much different story than you did. Why have you both lied to me."

"I dunno. It's definitely not because I'm a doctor." I mumbled under my breath, looking around for any way to escape.

"What did you say?"

"I said I need to...fuck. I don't remember. Ignore me, I'm a liar, remember?" I waved a hand, and moved past him to find wherever the fuck the nearest door was. Christ, what was with the lack of exits in this place? It was a goddamn fire hazard, that's what it was.

He grabbed my arm. "Khase, you do not walk away from your Arbiter." He said, his voice growing deeper and more commanding.

Okay, that was kinda hot. Deep and commanding was definitely one of my kinks. I stopped, as a tingy feeling ran through my body. I turned slightly. "Oh? Why not?" I couldn't keep the sultry tone out of my voice. Goddamnit, drunk me. What in the love of fucks are you doing? Control your damn self and get your head out of your pants. Jeez.

He turned me so I was facing him. "Because it is rude."

Goddamnit, Thel. If I was going to totally embarass myself while intoxicated, the least he could do was play along. The guy was a terrible flirter. Granted, it may have been because he oversaw my upbringing and that would be weird, but didn't my awkward womanly body or whatever at least just do a little bit for him? No? Apparently not. God, I hated being smack dab in the middle of the ugly scale. Why couldn't I just commit to a side?

"I've never been good at not being rude." I said, trying to pull away. He held me fast.

"Khase."

I gave him a wild eyed crazy look. "Do it one more time. 'Khase' me one more time, motherfucker. See what happens."

Thel gripped my arm more tightly and pulled me closer to him, putting his face right up next to mine. "Khase."

That's it. That cheeky fucker was going down. I stomped on his foot.

He gave a roar of pain.

Ha. Sucker. You may have taken one of my arms out of commission, but I still have feet.

My drunk ass was not prepared for him to grab me from behind and lift me off the ground.

"The fuck-what are you-goddamnit-" was all that I could come up with.

I struggled against the grip of iron that contained my entire upper body. I'm sure I looked super badass, being held in the air, with my legs kicking. He was holding me easily, of course. He outweighed me by over a hundred pounds and was like, two feet taller than me.

Naturally, he assumed I was powerless. He used to grab and hold me like this any time I got too unruly when I was younger. He hadn't done it in a few years, and in those few years I got to thinking that just in case he decided to pick this thing up again, I should be ready. I came up a solution.

A swift kick to the dick.

In all reality, it was a terrible solution. I didn't manage to plan ahead far enough, to what would happen after I executed a perfect swift kick to the dick.

What happened was I hit the floor. Hard. Because he dropped me so he could double over in pain. Which is, coincidentally, what I was doing on the floor. The difference was that while he was just groaning in pain, I was spewing expletives left and right. Some really choice ones, honestly. Very choice expletives.

I dragged my sorry carcass up off the floor, coughed some air back into my lungs and then jabbed a finger in the Sangheili's direction. "That's what happens when you 'Khase' me, you limp piece of-" I never got to finish my insult, because he charged me. That insult changed into an "oh fuck" real quick.

I managed to grab onto his shoulders as he hit me, and use his shoulders to propel myself up and over his head, and then crash unceremoniously onto the ground again. I was drunk. Give me a break.

Then I attached myself to his back like a damn spidermonkey and held on for dear life.

This was my evil little heart's favorite game. It was like riding a bull, except way more exciting. Like the world's most dangerous carnival ride. I like to call it "The Angry Sangheili aka God Fucking Damnit Khase".

He started trying to throw me off. Spinning around, grabbing at me, trying to reach me so he could throw me off. But I had that sweet spot in the middle of that broad, muscled back where he couldn't reach me with his pathetically unflexible arms.

Then I felt him start to tip backwards. Motherfucker. This asshole was going to smash me into the floor. So I pushed myself off, and as I did, I saw him go forward again.

That assshole. He faked the floor smashing to get me off of him.

He turned on me and grabbed at me. I ducked under his arms and headbutted him right in the solar plexus. At least, I tried. He had such a solid set of abs I was almost positive I broke my fucking neck. The moment I took to reel back was the moment he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.

I kicked and slapped him and yelled some more choice profanity at him to try and threaten him into putting me down. It didn't work. He easily transferred me to the front of his body and crushed me against his chest, hard enough that it was difficult to breathe, and closely enough that I was face to face with him, his amber eyes staring right into mine, his mandibles almost touching my mouth.

"Enough." He growled, his gaze locked on mine.

I couldn't maintain eye contact, because my eyes kept being drawn towards his mouth, then back up to those deep amber pools.

Then, for whatever fucking reason, I leaned forward and pressed my mouth against his. It wasn't so much of a kiss, as just me pressing my mouth onto his in the weirdest way.

He dropped me. I hit the floor. For the millionth fucking time. I never wanted to see the floor again. I looked up at him, ready to curse him out, but stopped short when I saw him.

Thel was standing there, staring down at me with a wild look in his eyes, holding his arms out from his sides with his hands clenched in fists in what looked like a combat stance, his chest heaving.

I slowly pulled myself up off the ground and stood up. "Thel, I'm sorry." I put a hand up on his chest. "I'm so s-"

He grabbed my wrist and threw my hand off of him, stepping back quickly like someone had shoved him, his chest heaving harder, the wild look still in his eyes.

I put my hands up, stepping back myself. "Okay, okay. Thel. What is-"

I didn't get a chance to ask my question, because someone stormed in between us and started yelling. That someone was my mother.

"What in the name of all that is good and holy is happening over here?" My mother demanded, looking back and forth at both of us. "Why was I approached by someone to tell me that my daughter and my good friend were fighting each other in a corner?"

I waved a hand at her. "Just a friendly fight between friends." I gestured at Thel, who's posture had grown less rigid, but who's chest was still heaving from all the heavy breathing he was doing. "Because that's exactly what we are. We're friends. Super friends. Friendly friends. But not too friendly."

My mother whacked me on the back of the head. "You're sloppy drunk, Khase, and you're an embarassment. Shut up."

If anyone was wondering where I got my attitude from, now you know.

"And _you_." My mom had turned on Thel. "If I ever catch you charging my daughter like she's one of your stupid Swords, I will personally skewer you with the sharpest object I can-what is wrong with you?" She'd finally noticed that Thel was still massively freaked out over what happened.

Thel shook his head, apparently trying to clear it, and responded with the weakest shit he could've come up with. "I am winded from fighting. I apologize. I meant no harm. I would never do Khase harm."

"He's weirded out because I kissed him. But it wasn't like a thing, you know? Just a friendly thing. Because we're friends. Friendly friends."

Fucking hell. Did I have no control over my mouth anymore? That's it. I was never drinking again. It was celibacy and sobriety from here on out.

My mother whirled around and gaped at me. "You _what_?"

In times like this, you wish the ground would just open up and swallow you. Like a random, wonderful, timely sinkhole just magically appearing beneath you. I wished for such a magical sinkhole.

"I-" I stopped talking and held up one hand, and then put another over my mouth. Oh god, yes. I was about to be saved.

I doubled over and threw up.

"Oh, my goodness. Khase." My mom bent over to hold my hair back as I puked up straight alcohol that definitely did not taste as good the second time around.

Thel stepped forward too.

My mom held up a hand. "No, no. I've got this. You go do whatever you need to to calm yourself and I'll take care of this hot mess."

I managed to pause the puking enough to give her a dirty look. Thel had nodded and left, giving me a long, indiscernable look over his shoulder as he'd left.

That was the last time I'd seen him.

I looked back up at Vale. "Yeah, it was kinda awkward, so I'm not really too sure how this is going to go."

She laughed. "Awkward how?"

Like hell I was going to tell her the whole story. Like hell.

"I was throwing up."

Vale laughed again.

I cringed inwardly at the thought. I was going home. I was going home, and I was going to see Thel 'Vadam for the first time since that horrifically awkard night.

Shit.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author Note: There are many typos in the previous chapters and most likely this one. There may come a day when I fix the typos. Today is not this day.**

The Pelican jerked slightly as it landed on Sanghelios. My heart jerked along with it. I was nervous. I was sweating.

Vale looked at me, eyebrows raised. "We haven't even left the Pelican and you're already going to give us away."

I shook my head. "No, I won't. Watch me." I stood up, stretched my legs and put on my most casually relaxed facial expression. Then, I spread my arms out. "See? Totally cool."

Vale looked impressed. "Wow. Pretty effective facial expression control you have there."

I looked out towards the entrance of the Pelican. "Yeah. It's my default when I'm treating someone with critical injuries. You don't want them to know by your facial expression how bad off they are, so you learn to put on a face that isn't too neutral but isn't too intense."

Vale stood up too, and touched my shoulder. "The life of a combat surgeon, hm?"

"Medic." I corrected her. "Combat surgeons save lives. I don't get the chance to do that very much. I usually just make them more comfortable while they die."

"That's often just as noble. Come on. We have a mission to complete." Vale stepped out of the Pelican and into the bright sunlight of Sanghelios.

Hot damn, it was bright. I was used to the artificial lighting of the Infinity. This natural sunlight bullshit was making my forehead do this weird cramp thing. You know what I'm talking about. That painful thing your face does when you're trying desperately to make your eyes adjust to the light faster.

"Ugh. Ow. Fuck." I blinked and squinted and tried to get my bearings. I could see three-maybe four-shadowy figures standing outside. Was one of them Vale? Probably.

One of the shadowy figures approached me and wrapped their arms around me in a death grip. Was it a foe?

Apparently, it was my mother, because she launched straight into lecturing me about god only knows what. I'd lost weight, was I eating enough, why hadn't I called her in four days, blah, blah blah.

"Fucking hell, mom, I just got here."

I was rewarded with a whack on the back of the head and a "Don't swear, Khase, it's vulgar. You're vulgar. Stop swearing."

I finally managed to clear my vision and looked at her. "Hey, mom. Long time no see. How's it going? How's the spouse?"

She shot me a dirty look. "You mean your father?"

"No, I mean the guy I haven't seen in years and who has no interest in maintaing any kind of relationship with me."

She jabbed me with her fingertip. "You know that's not the way things are done around here."

"Yeah, yeah." I stepped past her and looked towards the other figures. One was Vale. Another was a Sangheili I'd never seen before and of course the third one had to be Thel 'Vadam.

I gestured at them. "None of you heard any of that."

Vale grinned at me. "Heard what?"

"That's the spirit."

That was when Vale looked at me, raised her eybrows and jerked her head slightly in Thel 'Vadam's direction.

What do you want me to do, Spartan? Give him a fucking hug? Do a secret handshake? High five? What, exactly, does that collection of facial twitches mean?

Thel had noticed Vale's prompting. He then looked back to me and stepped forward. "It has been some time since I have seen you."

He held out his hand slightly. I grabbed it and gave him a fim handshake. "Good to see you, buddy."

Thel blinked at me, apparently attempting to process what happened.

That's it. That's all he was getting from me.

Vale just threw a look up to the heavens and exhaled. Just because we have some semblance of what could one day be a slight cameraderie doesn't mean I wasn't going to annoy the shit out of her on purpose on occasion.

I threw a look back to my mother who was staring at me with a completely judgmental expression on her face. "Right. Okay. You freak." She then straightened up and smiled warmly, like the diplomat she was to everyone else other than me. "Let's get you two someplace you can take a nap, freshen up, shoot guns, do whatever it is you military ladies do in your spare time before important meetings. I hope you don't mind sharing a room?"

"Not at all." Vale grinned, and hooked an arm around my shoulder. "We're super close. Best girly buddies."

"I will kick you in your perfectly augmented shins, mark my words." I hissed at her.

Vale's only response was to pull me tighter and grin wider.

"Use caution. She will step on your foot and it will hurt." Thel 'Vadam warned Vale, putting a hand on her shoulder as he walked by, trying to catch my eye. Nope. Not going to engage. Hell to the nah, son.

Vale looked at him, then back at me suspiciously, then slowly backed away from me.

Wow. We hadn't even been on the planet ten minutes and he's already trying to bring up that bullshit.

Before we entered the area of living spaces in Vadam Keep, my mother yanked on my arm, hard. I yelped in pain.

"Everyone, please excuse us. I need to speak with my daughter privately about something important." She kept that iron vise grip on my poor arm, which was throbbing, by the way. Thanks, mom. I am your only child and you're causing me pain. I couldn't tell her that, though, because she'd just say something about childbirth and I really didn't want to hear anything about how my mother's vagina pain was a justification for her to cause me pain so I just kept my mouth shut and tried not to swear.

Vale raised an eyebrow and gave me a look that clearly communicated she wanted me back to the room I was sharing with her as fast as possible.

My mom pulled me into a small side corridor and shoved me into a small room. It was a goddamn closet. "Mom. Why in the hell are we in a closet? Why are you so weird? Why have-"

She clapped a hand over my mouth. "For once in your life, shut up. There is something going on here. Do you remember your cousin Uul?"

"Who? No, I'm afraid I've completely forgotten the anus wrinkle who tried to chew my entire fucking arm off."

"Khase, I swear to whatever deity exists out there that I will beat you with this mop if you don't stop running your mouth and listen to me."

I shot a nervous look towards the mop. "Okay. Alright. You got my attention."

My mother took a deep breath. "Over the last year and a half, your cousin has come to work along side Thel 'Vadam in many of his ventures. He has become one of the Arbiter's inner circle, along with your father. Now, your father, the last time we were together, assured me that he was confident that Uul had come to the Arbiter out of a genuine desire to better relations with humanity and to gain affection from the Arbiter that he'd always wanted. I'd believed him, of course, because it was very hard for me to find reason, giving what your father was doing to me at the current time-"

"I'm going to stop you right there. Physically, if I have to."

My mother coughed, then continued. "However. I'm not so convinced anymore. He has been acting strangely. Too nice. Too supportive. Too...decent."

"So suspicious. People with changes of heart should never change anything else other than their heart."

I got a whack on the back of the head for that. I probably deserved it.

"I mean it, Khase. Something isn't right."

I threw up my hands. "Well, what am I supposed to do about it? Challenge him to a duel? Torture him? Threaten him with an appendectomy?"B

My mother put her hands on my shoulders and looked deep into my eyes. Well, as deeply as one could in a dark closet. I knew that the next thing she was going to say would be nothing I wanted to hear, and nothing I certainly wanted to do.

"Talk to Thel. See if you can reason with him, and get him to send Uul away." She looked up and then looked back at me. "And if you can't use reason, use...other methods."

I just looked at her blankly. I was going to make her say it. Oh, I was going to make her say it and be very, very clear about what she was saying. "What other methods, mom?"

"You know what I mean."

"No, I don't. You want me to hypnotize him? Use the power of suggestion? Bribe him? Blackmail him? What other methods?"

My mother sighed, and shifted uncomfortably. "No, I mean some more...well, feminine methods. You know. The kind he'll respond to."

"You want me to fucking _what_?"

"I want you to stop swearing, first of all, and second of all, I want you to do whatever it takes to get him to send Uul away before we all end up victim to whatever end game Uul is playing. Get naked if you have to. I don't care."

"My god, mom. Holy fucking shit."

"Stop swearing."

"Did you seriously just tell me to persuade Thel to do something by getting naked? Are you joking?"

"No. I said whatever means necessary."

"You also said something about getting naked."

"That was just an example."

"An example of what?"

"Using any means necessary!"

"Is getting naked really necessary? Can't I just settle for some strategic groping, or a fully clothed lapdance?"

"Child, I brought you into this world, and I am very seriously considering taking you out of it."

"No, seriously, do you think a lap dance would be convincing? You know like, 'Hey there big guy, lemme rub my body on you and oh, by the way, you should off my cousin because I fucking hate him and my mom thinks he's suspicious, don't think about it, just look at my sweet ass'. Do you think that would work as a persuasion tactic?'

Her response was to just shove me out of the closet and storm off.

I ran my fingers through my hair and shook my head. Goddamn.

"I heard some of the last part of that and I'm sickened, yet curious, but I'm sure I definitely don't want to know." I jumped when Vale spoke suddenly from around the corner. She leaned around it and looked at me strangely. "Did you just come out of the closet?"

"Yes. Also no." I shook my head. "Anyway. Let's just pretend that whole closet conversation thing never happened."

Vale led me to the room we shared and I collapsed face first on the bed. "Did you do a sweep to make sure no one put any listening devices in our room?"

"What?"

I rolled over and repeated my question.

"I made sure this place was secure as hell."

"Good. Then I have some news for you." I told her what my mom had said to me, leaving out the part where I almost had to hear about my parents' sex life. Euurrghh. That is, without a doubt, the grossest thing I'd heard in years. Worse than Ewing describing exactly what happened, in great detail, when he'd gotten food poisoning. I had to give it to my mom, though. I didn't think anything could gross me out worse than Ewing's food poisoning.

Vale paced the room. "This is bad. This means Thel trusts him, which means it will be harder to convince him that Uul is bad news."

"Exactly. Much harder."

Vale suddenly stopped. Then she whirled to face me, her eyes bright. "I have an idea."

"That sounds dangerous."

"It is. You up for it?"

"Hell yeah I am."

"Okay." She sat down on the bed next to me. "Your cousin hates your guts, right? Always has?"

"Enough to try and chew my arm off."

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway...my plan is simple. You piss off your cousin to the point that he snaps and attacks you or whatever. But you make sure that it's in front of Thel. Because then he'll be so angry at your shithead cousin attacking you that he'll probably kill him or something and then we can bring the Infinity in and obliterate everyone."

"Okay, that's great and all, but what about Kelly?"

"Leave that to me. I'll find her. You just focus on pissing off your cousin."

"That's the easy part. The hard part is getting Thel around when I piss him off. You know Uul is crafty enough to plan for something like that."

Vale looked at me. "You're smart. You'll think of something." Then she grinned. "Like a lapdance."

I started kicking her furiously. "You fucking motherfucking shithead motherfucker goddamn you-"

She started laughing and slapped my legs away.

Danger was not something I was afraid of. Not even a little bit. Awkward social situations? Fucking terrified of those. Fuck all that.

So, naturally, instead of going straight to the Arbiter like I was tasked to do by my mother and Vale, I took a walk. I took a long walk through a bunch of fields and found myself a little creek to sit by and put my feet in, lean back and soak in the sunlight and cool breeze.

It was fucking fantastic. I was on the verge of falling asleep when someone approached me. By the gait, I could tell it was a Sangheili. I sat up, and turned around.

It was Uul.

FUCK.

"Khase." His mandibles pulled back into a sneer.

At least, I thought it was a sneer. It's very difficult to distinguish a sneer from a smile from a Sangheili, even if you'd lived on the planet most of your life, like I had.

And that fucker had pronounced my name wrong again. He said it "Kaah-say". Not "Case-eh", with kind of a short "eh" thing where you're not really pronouncing the "eh". It's hard to describe. But anyway, my point stands. Why would I choose the human name Casey Adams if my real first name didn't even sound like "Casey"? Casey isn't even a cute name. I should've chosen something like "Belladonna", because that's a poisonous plant. Except if you put it in eyedrops, then it can really help you clear up an eye infection. I'm serious. It's a pretty sweet plant. But who cares about that except me? Answer: No one. Because no one cares about cool medical stuff but me. Welcome to my life

I didn't correct him though, because like, whatever. Names aren't really worth dying over.

"Uul! How's it going, man? I haven't seen you in a long time!" I said, a little too cheerfully.

"It is going well, cousin. And how is the UNSC?" He...sneered? Smiled? Was it a smile? I think so. It seemed like he was trying to be friendly. I wasn't sure.

"It's pretty great. Being an ODST is pretty cool. I heard you got into politics and all that bullshit. Must be a real drag." I said, hoping my smile didn't seem as forced as it felt.

"It is. But being close to the Arbiter and helping him succeed in his plans is well worth it."

Yeah, that was definitely a smile. The dude was trying to kiss my ass. Why? I don't know.

"Nice, nice. So how's all that stuff going? Like I don't know or really care what you guys are doing, but I hope it's going alright and shit."

God fucking dammit, Khase. Someone should've taught you how to make small talk that isn't awkward. Holy hell.

"Arbiter needs all the help that he can have. And I have provided that help, and continue to provide it." Uul shifted, and his face became serious. "Khase, I have come to tell you something."

Yeah? What have you come to tell me, you shifty piece of shit?

I just looked up at him, giving him the most curiously innocent expression I could muster up. I hoped it looked innocent and curious, and not like I was trying to take a massive shit or something. "Yeah?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "I am deeply sorry for the ways I attempted to injure you when we were young. I realize now that it was very wrong of me, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me some day."

The fuck? Did this asshole just apologize?

"Uh...Don't worry about it. Like, I'd be way mad at you if my arm was actually gone and all, but since it's still attached and still works really well, it's not that big of a deal. Forget about it. I have a wicked scar and a great story to tell at parties. It's cool." I waved my hand. "Seriously, it's fine."

"Khase, I am in earnest. If there is anything in my power that I can do to make it up to you, I will." Uul shifted again, his yellow eyes boring into mine (which are a honey brown, not yellow, fuck you) and played with his hand things uncomfortably.

I pushed myself up off the ground and stood up. "No, seriously. It's okay. At least, it will be once you tell me the honest fucking truth about something."

I was about to take a gamble here. The kind of gamble that both my mother and Vale would absolutely kill me for if it made things go south. But the fact that Uul had apologized and seemed genuine about it? It made me need to ask. Because as far as I knew, Uul was a shit liar, and he never apologized, I mean actually apologized, about anything if he didn't feel genuine about it. So this was something I had to ask.

"I will tell you the truth." Uul looked into my eyes, as if trying to get me to understand that he was genuinely wanting to make amends.

"Okay. Did you take Kelly?"

Uul blinked. His brow furrowed a bit, and he blinked again. "I do not know who the person you speak of is."

"Kelly. She's a Spartan. She came here and was kidnapped. What do you know?" I said, stepping forward, making myself as big and tough as I could.

Uul took a step back and held out his hands. "I assure you, I do not know that name, nor do I know of any Spartans on this planet."

What the fuck? Wasn't he the one in charge of this? Wasn't he responsible? The hell was going on?

"Seriously, Uul. I need you to tell me: What happened to Kelly?"

This time, Uul stepped forward and grasped both my arms. "Khase, I do not know who you speak of. I have no knowledge of this person, and I have no knowledge of any Spartans being commissioned to this planet, aside from your friend Vale. I am in earnest, and I am telling you the truth."

I studied him for a long minute. Okay, he was definitely telling the truth. He really didn't know who the hell Kelly was or that she'd been on Sanghelios at all.

"Okay. I believe you. And my point about forgetting about all the bullshit you did to me when we were kids still stands. That's cool. But I need your help with all this."

He seemed confused. "With what?"

"With finding Kelly."

"Is Kelly missing?"

"Yes."

"How?"

I shook my head. "I don't know how. All I know is that..." I trailed off and then looked at him suspiciously. "Okay, just because I'm over all the bullshit between us doesn't mean I trust you."

Uul stepped back again. "And for that, I do not blame you. I have not proven myself a trustworthy member of family to you. I do wish to make amends, and prove myself as someone you can trust. That is my desire. Arbiter speaks highly of you as someone that I should establish a friendship with, and I have taken his advice and come to try and establish what should have been established long ago, yet my jealousy had prevented it from taking place."

"Wait, Thel thinks I'm cool?"

"I do not know exactly what 'cool' is, but if it means that Arbiter is fond of you, then yes."

"How fond?" I demanded. "Like, what exactly does he think about me?"

Uul looked around, as if trying to see if there was anyone around who might be eavesdropping. "Khase, all I know is that Arbiter cares for you, and deeply. And it is not in the way that a warrior would care for a young one he has trained for fighting. A few days ago, he spoke to your mother and asked if you had chosen a mate for yourself. Your mother said you had not. And Arbiter told her that if you had not chosen anyone, then he would ask her permission to pursue you."

I stared at him. "He fucking what?"

"He would ask her permission to pursue you. But cousin, I do not understand: who is this Kelly that you have come here for?"

I shook my head to try and clear it. I could think about Thel and whatever the fuck he was up to later. "Kelly is the person who was taken by a group of Covenant and is being held as leverage to keep the UNSC from interfering in a Covenant plot to kill Thel."

Uul stared at me, shock and horror registering on his face. "You knew of this? Why did you say nothing!?" He roared, grabbing me and lifting me in the air.

Okay, so he was totally trying to be a good guy now. A good guy who was about to throttle me, but still.

"Uul, Uul, listen: The UNSC sent me back here to try and look for her and to also protect Thel because no one would question me being here, okay? That's why Vale and I are here- to keep Thel from getting killed and to find Kelly. But I need to tell you something else."

He set me down. "What is it?"

I took a deep breath. "The UNSC thinks you're the one who's heading the plot to kill the Arbiter, and they think you're the one who kidnapped Kelly."

Uul shook his head, seeming utterly confounded. "But I have no knowledge of that person. Or a plot to kill the Arbiter."

"I know that now. Which means that you have to help me figure out who's actually behind this."

Uul stared at me. "If I do this, will I have your trust?"

"My infinite trust."

"Then perhaps we need to have words with your comrade Vale. For I think I may know who it is heading this plot to kill Arbiter."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author note: I can't decide whether to add a sex scene or not. Thinking about it, but very apprehensive about the possibility. Let me know if that's something you want to read. I'm willing to write it. If this chapter makes you uncomfortable, then that's a pretty good indicator that this is as far as it's going to go. If not, let me know if you want a 50 Shades of Gray kind of sex scene or one that's as vanilla as a religious historical romance sex scene. This story is here for fan service. I can take it any direction you all want it to go. Leave a review and tell me where you want this to go, and how far you want it to go.**_

Apparently, there had been a meeting that had been scheduled while I was out wandering around doing my bullshit, avoiding my responsibilities and having a nice heart to heart chat with my dumbass cousin. And no one had told me about this meeting. Probably because no one wanted me there. Which is why I totally showed up.

I didn't even hear about it from anyone. I literally walked by one of the council chambers in Vadam Keep and heard voices. So I walked in.

Turns out, it was a rather important meeting about Forerunner artifacts that had been found on Sanghelios that had to be relocated somewhere beacause of some geological threat to someone somewhere and whatever. Super important.

So I kicked open the door, super loudly, and threw my lanky ass body down into a seat in the back of the amphitheater-like seating.

The meeting consisted of all the Swords of Sanghelios, the Arbiter, a few of the old dudes from other regions and Vale. Fucking Vale. Bitch didn't even tell me this was happening.

As I'd collapsed into one of the seats in the back, my entrance definitely not unnoticed, I'd looked down and saw Thel, who was standing in the middle of the room, apparently listening to people talk some totally boring bullshit, look up at me.

His expression was something of "this fucking piece of shit can't let me do anything in peace while she's home, can she".

Welcome to the long list of people who are done with my shit, Thel. It's about time you showed up on this list.

The meeting went on for a good hour, and I sat forward, leaning on my knees, trying to appear as enthralled as possible. One of the Swords, Usze 'Taham, kept looking up at me, as if trying to catch me falling asleep or something. I was familiar with Usze. He'd always thought I was an absolute asshole and a total waste of space. He was a pragmatic guy, a dependable guy, a pretty good guy. Which also translates out to being totally boring. He and Vale appeared to go way back, almost as far as him and Thel, which made him slightly less boring, but boring nonetheless. Good fighter, though. I'd seen him kick some serious ass the last time I was home.

I raised my eyebrows at Usze the next time he looked at me. He narrowed his eyes at me. I narrowed mine back. He shook his head slightly. I shook mine back.

I heard someone clear their throat and stand up. "Pardon me, Kaidon, I must attend to something immediately. I will return." It was Thel. He'd stood up, apologized to the guy speaking about something I literally gave no shits about, and turned.

His amber eyes zeroed onto mine, looking grave and brooding, almost angry.

Whoops. I think I'd gotten myself in trouble. What for, though? It's not like I'd been disruptive. Hell, I think I'd been the only person even bothering to look like I was paying attention here.

As Thel walked by me, he gave me a glare that clearly indicated I was supposed to follow him. So, I did. Why save the ass reaming for later?

I walked out of the room, and he was standing there, waiting for me. "Khase, why are you here? You were not told of this meeting. There is no reason to be here."

What's the worst thing I could say? Oh, I know. "Oh, Thel. You know politics is one of my kinks."

The large Sangheili took a deep breath. "Khase."

I tilted my head to one side and raised my eyebrows. "Are we going to start that again? You know how things ended the last time you 'Khase'-ed me."

I was throwing him some bait. To see how he'd react. I was curious, especially after what Uul had said to me.

Thel took a step closer to me. "I am well aware of what happened last time. However, there was much drink involved in that last instance, which is not involved this time."

I thought for a second, then said, "I'll give you that."

His large Sangheili shoulders seemed to slouch a little. "I am glad to determine that the alcohol was what caused the events of the last time you were here."

Hold up, sweetheart. That is definitely not what I said. Or even meant. "Who said the alcohol was the only cause?"

Thel stiffened, looking down at me.

Well, crap. Now I was in this. "Like, maybe it was the heat of the moment and all the wrestling and stuff. I don't know." I waved my arms around a little, as if that would make the sheer awkwardness and the idiocy of the words coming out of my mouth totally go away.

"Khase."

"Or maybe it was..." I stopped and wiggled my fingers, trying to come up with something. "Fuck, I don't know. I have nothing. I don't know."

I turned around and walked a few steps away. What Uul had told me had thrown me for a loop, and standing here in front of him wasn't doing anything to take me out of that loop.

So what was a girl to do? Change the subject, of course.

"Thel..." I turned back around, and saw him standing still, exactly where he'd been standing when I walked away. "Uul came to talk to me earlier."

"He made his amends, as he promised?"

"Yeah. Did you have anything to do with that?"

"I can only provide counsel, not change an innate desire."

"How wise."

"I try to be, for the sake of those under my care."

I shrugged in agreement, and looked around to see if anyone was close by who might hear what I was definitely going to tell Thel, and, if they were a member of the Servants of the Abiding Truth, would definitely kill Kelly for.

"Khase, what is the matter?"

I saw a few Sangheili approaching us, and decided I was going to sort of take my mother's closet advice. Not totally take it, but sort of take it.

I motioned him over to me, and when he approached me, I motioned him closer. He bent down, pretty damn far, since he was a hell of a lot taller than me, until his face was level with mine.

From there, I put my arms around his neck and put my mouth right up to his ear. "Don't react. Don't do anything that will let anyone know that this is something other than a tender loving embrace."

He paused for a moment, then slowly circled me with his arms. Good boy. Do what the doctor says.

"I didn't come back here to visit. I was sent by Captain Lasky, as was Vale, to try and stop an assassination plot by the Servants of the Abiding Truth." I breathed into his ear, as quietly as I could.

I was totally aware of the pressure of his arms around me, the heat from his body, the faint leathery smell of dust and Sangheili pheromones. Goddamn.

"And who is it they are planning to assassinate?" Thel asked, just as softly, in my ear.

Had his voice always been so deep? I don't know. I'd never been in this kind of an intimate closeness fucking whatever with him.

"You." I gripped the back of his neck tighter to try and keep him from reacting. It was less of an affectionate thing, and more like this near murder vice grip.

"And how would they accomplish that, if the UNSC is aware of the plot?" His voice in my ear did weird ass fucking things to me that I wasn't quite sure what they were and why they were happening, but whatever. I was just going to ignore them and focus on the important shit anyway.

"They have Kelly." I said, softly, increasing the vice grip. I'm sure he was in pain by now, because I think I was digging my nails in. But then again, Sangheili are used to pain, since they spend so much goddamn time fighting.

He didn't answer for what seemed like an eternity. Then he slowly moved his face along the side of my neck, which sent a shock through my entire body.

"And why do they have Kelly?" He asked.

Totally ignoring all the weird shit I was feeling at the current time, I told him, "They're holding her as leverage to ensure the UNSC doesn't attempt to send reinforcements. They know that the UNSC won't risk one of their best Spartans. But that's why Vale and I are here. We're supposed to find Kelly and help protect you from getting assassinated."

He was quiet again. "I see."

I tried to calm my breathing, which was starting to get kind of funny.

He spoke again. "I do not understand something."

"What don't you understand?"

"Why does the UNSC think that a surgeon would able to assist in thwarting an assassination plot?"

FUCK. MOTHERFUCKING SHIT FUCKITY FUCK.

How the fuck did he know?

I involuntarily yanked myself back, but he was still holding me. So now I was face to face with him, entirely too close for comfort. "A what?!" I tried not to yell, but failed miserably.

His mouth quirked into a slight grin. "A surgeon. Because that is what you are: a combat surgeon. I do not think lesser of you for being a surgeon, but I am upset that I have been lied to."

I opened my mouth, then closed it again when I realized I didn't have a solid lie or a great excuse. I looked away for a few seconds, then up at the ceiling, then finally back at him. "Okay, who told you?"

His grin got a bit bigger, as he could see that he'd finally gotten me to admit the truth. "Admiral Hood. Apparently, he values an alliance with the Sangheili far more than your reputation."

"God fucking dammit." I swore, quietly. I'd be damned if I'd let anyone else hear that I was a raging liar.

He moved so that his face was almost touching mine. "I would like to know why you lied to me."

"I..." I suddenly couldn't concentrate. He was so close to me. It was hard to focus. "I didn't want you to know in case someone else asked. I didn't want you to have to lie."

That was the goddamn truth, too. I'd never told him because of two reasons: 1. I didn't want him to think me a total disgrace, and 2. I didn't want him to have to lie to anyone who asked, because the dude was a shit liar.

"Khase, I am the Arbiter." His voice became a bit deeper, and my eyes involuntarily wandered to the mark on his chest. The mark that had been inteneded to be a symbol of shame, but was now a symbol of leadership and pride. "I can choose to do what I will with the knowledge I have."

"Yeah, I know, but you're a really bad liar."

"And why would that matter?"

"Well, you know. We have a history and shit and there's some shit between us and it might be bad for you to admit what my true calling to the UNSC was." I shrugged.

"Khase. I choose to associate with who I will, and my reasons for associating are my own. You seem to be the only person who cannot grasp this."

Uh, excuse you? I was trying to do something _nice_ because I _care_. And I don't generally do nice, so this asshole should be fuckin grateful.

Suddenly, Thel's grip on my body tightened. "Khase."

I looked up at him, and suddenly wished I hadn't. His eyes were intense, burning with something I couldn't quite name, and even if I could, I probably would've been afraid to.

He tilted his head slightly. His mandibles were lightly brushing my lips, the slight touch soft and gentle, but still enough to send a rush of adrenaline through my body.

"Khase, I do not care what others may think of my relationship with you. I only care for what you think of the relationship between us."

I must have been drunk on not getting the kind of attention my egoistical little heart felt it deserved, because I, like a true virgin, pushed my face onto his. Like, pushed it. No technique, no nothing. Just like, pushed my face into his. Because I'm such a fucking loser.

Good thing he knew what he was doing, though. And holy hell, did he know what he was doing. He must have practiced. But whether on his arm or another human (which is something I really didn't want to think about), I didn't know.

But the way he pulled me up into him and ran his hands across my back while gently engulfing my mouth with his mandibles was the most intoxicating thing I'd ever experienced. I couldn't get enough. I grabbed whatever part of him I could reach, the back of his neck, his shoulders, his face. All I knew is that I needed more.

He brought his right hand up and tangled it in my hair, pulling it gently, which made me moan in the most embarassingly desperate way, which in turn caused him to cover almost the entire lower half of my face with his mandibles, his teeth gently biting my lower lip. God, it was all so gentle, yet passionate and desperate, as if he couldn't seem to be able to push his mouth onto mine hard enough. I couldn't stand it. We were closer, more entwined than we'd ever been, yet I still wasn't close enough to him. So I jumped and wrapped my legs around his waist.

He was easily able to lift me and crush me into his chest with one arm, but that didn't seem enough for him. He turned in the hallway we were in and pushed me into the wall, pinning my body to the wall with his, his mouth seemingly searching for heaven on mine. He felt so good, he tasted so good, and all I wanted was to stay this way with him forever. God, I could've made out with him for the rest of my life. I could've lived and died happily pushed up against that wall with his mandibles engulfing my face. I pushed my tongue in between his mandibles and found his toungue, wrapping mine around it. He responded in kind. It was like this sexually charged game where each of us was trying to take the other's tongue captive. He made a rumbling noise deep in his chest as he pushed me against the wall, harder. I gripped him with my legs more tightly and dared to press my pelvis up against that rock hard set of muscle structure I'd almost broken my neck on once. His hand gripped my hair tighter, and he pulled it, hard, eliciting the weirdest "unngghhh" noise I think I'd ever made in my life.

The pressure and movement of his mandibles on my mouth, and the sliding of his tongue inside my mouth became more desperate as he backed up slightly and then almost slammed me against the wall, giving a slight thrust with his own pelvis, his left hand crushing me against his body. I grabbed the side of his face and forced my mouth even harder against his, making that stupid weird noise again, starting to grind my most intimate part against his abdomen, as his free hand made it's way up and down my body, his mandibles ravaging my lips.

Someone cleared their throat from across the hall.

Thel immediately dropped me, whirling around and I coughed, running a hand through my hair as casually as I could.

Vale was standing there, her gaze towards the ceiling, her right hand rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. "Thel, they need you back in the chamber." She said, clearing her throat again, still not looking at either of us.

"I will return to the meeting." Thel said hoarsely, throwing a look at me over his shoulder that indicated that was the last thing he would like to be doing at the moment. I couldn't tear my eyes away from his hulking form as he entered the chamber.

And then Vale and I were alone in the hall.

I coughed again, and Vale cleared her throat for the third fucking time.

"So, uh. I guess he really had to attend to something immediately. Too bad it got interrupted." Vale finally looked at me, her eyebrows nearly at her hairline.

"You know what? I don't have to talk about this. " I grimaced and waved my hand at her.

"Uh, but you want to."

"Really? Because last time I checked I definitely don't."

"So steamy make out sessions with Thel 'Vadam aren't your usual pastime when you visit Sanghelios?" Vale said, mockingly.

"Uh, no. No, they are not." I said, as primly as I could manage.

"So what's up with you two? Is this something recent? When did you two discover you couldn't keep your hands off of each other?"

I gave her a wild eyed look. "My threat about kicking you in your perfectly augmented shins? Yeah, that still stands."

"Hey, no judgement here. Just means you're more invested in making sure he doesn't get assassinated."

I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. Killing Spartans wasn't my style.

Vale laughed, and I opened my eyes to see her looking at me, a gleam in her eyes. "Seriously, you guys were so into it. You'd probably have done it right in the hallway if I hadn't stopped by."

I rolled my eyes. "Uh, no. I'm far too much of a fucking lady for that."

"Yeah, right."

I sighed and tried to straighten out my almost-sex hair. There was this giant ass knot in it, and I'm sure it was like, everywhere.

"Vale, I originally came out with him because he was going to yell at me for crashing the meeting. I ended up telling him about..." I sotpped and looked around, then wiggled my eyebrows at her.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "You asshole. Why did you say anything?"

"Well, it's usually considered polite to inform people when they're gonna be..." I trailed off and wiggled my eyebrows at her again.

She wiggled her eyebrows back. "But what if it screws things up? Like with your cousin?"

Okay, well, now I had to come clean. Because I couldn't let Vale keep thinking that Uul was responsible for this when he pretty clearly not only had no idea who Kelly was, but had no idea that a plot was in place and pretty much all but said he wasn't a part of the Servants of the Abiding Truth. Someone in charge of the plot had to have planted his name, and that someone had to not only be pretty high up in the Servants, but also pretty damn close to Thel to know that Uul was someone he trusted.

So, I told her. Naturally, her reaction was what I expected it to be.

"You stupid fucking piece of shit. How do you know he wasn't lying to you? What if-" She stopped and made a seizure like gesture with her head. "-isn't dead, or worse?"

"Because I know the fucker. I grew up with him. I can tell when he's trying to bullshit me." Then, I shook my head. "It's also because I think I know who's really behind all of it."

"Who?" Vale demanded, stepping close to me. "Who would it be, if not your cousin?" She asked, in more of a hiss than a whisper.

"Think about it." I hiss-whispered back, probably not unlike Kig-Yar Girl. "Someone close to Thel who has the knowledge of his relationship with Uul. Someone who knows how important the Spartans are to the UNSC, especially Kelly. Someone who knows how Sangheili/Human relations work. Someone who has an absolutely intimate knowledge of the politics of how that goes on. Someone who could convince my mother that Uul is the one behind the whole plot. Someone no one would ever suspect of being part of the Servants of Abiding Truth."

Vale stared at me for a second, then closed her eyes and shook her head. "Okay, yeah, I genuinely have no idea who that would be."

Vale, you fucking idiot. Why are you so stupid? Why do I have to say this out loud? It makes me sound like I have deep seated issues. Holy hell. I can't believe you're too much of a dumb shit to figure this out.

"Okay, I'm going to say this agan: Someone close to Thel. Someone who knows how human/Sangheili relations work. Someone who knows about the Spartans. Someone who can convince my mother that Uul is really the bad guy." I held out my arms. "Who would that be?"

Vale looked totally confused for a split second, and then it finally dawned on her. "Oh my god. It's Kal. Kal 'Nradaman. Your father."

I jabbed a finger at her. "It has to be. Who else would it be?"

Vale suddenly looked at me suspiciously. "Are you sure this isn't your daddy issues talking?"

"God fucking damnit Vale."


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author Note: Hold on to your butts, people. This is where it starts turning into a wild rild. I've had a few IPA's, read a couple smut fics and think I'm finally prepared to make this thing rock and roll. Also, I finally came up with a plotline. It's probably been obvious, but there has been no plan for a plotline ever since I started this thing, and I've previously had no idea where this fic was going, but I think I've got it down now. I'll also try and actually proofread so there's less dumb spelling and grammar errors. Let's see how this craptastic thing goes.**_

Vale and I had a dillemma, now. One, we didn't have any proof that my dad was the one behind everything. Two, we still didn't really know if we could trust Uul. I was inclined to, but that's only because I would rather hate the asshole who pretended he didn't even know me than some dude who tried to kill me multiple times as a kid. Priorities are important.

It's not like I even hated the fuckface who'd sired me all that much. I was just mad that he treated me so much differently than Sanheili males usually treat their kids. I at least deserved a modicum of politeness from him, right? Apparently not, because not only had he never even tried to have a conversation with me, he would actively shit on me whenever possible. Like, once or twice Thel had tried to tell him that I was doing really well with learning to kick ass with an energy sword, and all the dude had said was something along the lines of, "that's impossible, the kid's a wimp and I will never be impressed until she dies in battle at some point". What a fucking asshole.

Anyway, Vale and I definitely had a problem.

"So we can put the pieces together. But for people who aren't automatically suspicious of anyone who, when the circumstantial evidence points to it, look like they could possibly be guilty, it may just look like a kind of coincidence." Vale rubbed her chin, thoughtfully. "So...do you think we should contact Captain Lasky? See if he can get something solid?"

I tossed her a look. "Like what? The dude who's sperm helped create me and therefore subsequently ended his involvement in who I turned out to be is pretty tight with the brass of the UNSC, considering he regularly bones an ambassador."

"You're a sad and pathetic person, and I think you need to talk to someone about your obvious issues." Vale retorted. "And that's why I suggested Lasky, because he's the kind of idealist that's infallible and rejects the intricate workings of politics in favor of what his childish-like heart believes is the right thing to do."

"You gotta admit, that kind of attitude is refreshing." I said. "But those kinds of people never end up privy to the kind of information we'd need to get proof. People who always do the right thing never get involved in shady dealings." I pointed out.

"Very true. So what do you suggest?"

"I'll go beat the truth out of him."

"I can't even begin to tell you how bad of an idea that is."

"Well, it was worth suggesting."

Vale and I stood in silence for a minute, both of us trying to think of what to do. When you're sent on a mission that seems pretty clear cut, and then suddenly all the information you thought was correct changes, it throws you for a bit of a loop. I'm a combat surgeon. I'm not a military strategist. Vale doesn't have much of a gift for strategy either. There's a reason neither of us were put into positions where massive amounts of military strategy was required.

"Hey, Vale. Remember when you complimented my incredible manipulative ability?" I said, slowly, something finally coming to me.

She looked at me with some suspicion. "I remember."

I grinned at her. "Maybe there's a way to use that to our advantage. It might involve shamelessly manipulating Uul and possibly the Arbiter, and most definitely my mother, but whatever works to get the mission done, right?"

"I swear to god, 'Nradaman, if you suggest what I think you're going to, I'm going to hurl you into space and listen to your screams as you drift away into certain death."

"Harsh. Anyway, what I'm suggesting is that I manipulate Thel into thinking that Uul is still the one behind the plot to kill him and the one who's holding Kelly, then force Thel's hand against Uul, then Uul will be forced to tell him he's not the one behind it and then I can suggest that, hey, maybe it's the guy who really knows a ton about how human/Sangheili relations work and all that, and maybe they'd both be in a panic, Uul to convince Thel he's not a terrible guy, and Thel to figure out who's really trying to off him."

Vale looked at me, grinning. "Thank god that wasn't the plan I thought you'd come up with, but that's a good one."

"What did you think I was going to come up with?"

"That hardly matters, and I'm not going to tell you because I don't want to put ideas into your head." Vale retorted.

"What I would like to know is when you were going to inform your mother of what you two were planning to do, you little shit." A voice echoed from the hallway behind us, the voice of someone I was really hoping to keep entirely separate from this whole thing.

My mom. Fuck me straight up the ass. We got so into this bullshit, I'd forgotten to keep tabs on her. Well, now we were going to pay for that.

I was still going to try and lie my way out of this, though. "What are we planning to do?" I said, a little too innocently, throwing a panicked look at Vale, who started inching slowly out from between me and my mother.

Vale, you fucking coward. Your entire job is to face death and danger and you're scared of one fucking diplomat. You fucking coward.

She turned to face my mom, like a true soldier, putting the immediate threat to your safety in front of you. "Annabella, we didn't want you involved in this."

"Involved in something that involves both my child and...well, her father?" My mom had scrambled for a second to find a descriptive word for that piece of shit. They weren't married. My father had never gotten married. He apparently wanted to be forever a bachelor. My mom had been pining for years and pretended not to be. I'd seen it, all through my childhood. Maybe half of my hostility towards the guy came from the fact that he didn't give two shits about actually being with my mother, just stringing her along so she came running whenever he wanted. He'd been totally using her for a long time, but any time I mentioned it, she'd refused to listen to me.

"Vale, she's not going to go anywhere. Please, for all of our sake, just tell her what's really going on."

So Vale did. Told her all about how Lasky had sent us here to try and stop the plan to assassinate Thel, and to get Kelly back from whoever was holding her for leverage. How we'd been told that it was Uul behind all of it, but Uul had told me and seemed genuine in that he didn't know about a plot to assassinate Thel or anything about Kelly being on the planet. Vale told her about all the signs that seemed to point to my DNA donater as the one really behind it. And through it all, my mother just stood there, with her arms folded, apparently listening.

When Vale had finished, my mom angled her chin upwards in a defiant expression. "Well, that settles it. I'll beat the truth out of him."

Like mother like daughter, right?

Vale threw the world's coldest glare back at me, apparently thinking the same thing.

I just gave her a wide eyed look. Like, where did she think I'd gotten all this from? Seriously?

My mom suddenly laughed, but the mirth didn't reach her eyes.

My heart dropped. Oh, mom.

She agreed with us. She knew it could only be him, too. And it was killing her.

"I kid, Vale. I'm not going to do that. What I will do, however, is pretend that nothing has changed. As it seems you two have this under control. But I have one requirement." Her eyes, which were green and sparked with the intensity that the Master Chief's often did, leveled onto mine. "My one requirement is that you absolutely do not harm Thel in any way. And I mean that."

I put my hands up. "Wait, why does that need to be a requirement? It's not like that's my intention. I don't want to hurt him."

She continued to look at me. "I don't mean that you aren't to hurt him physically. I mean don't hurt him in...other ways. Thel is a friend. And he is someone that I care deeply for. And I won't have you hurting him."

"Okay, I won't. I promise. Is that good enough for you?" I said, bristling a little bit. It's like she was insinuating that he wasn't anything to me and that I wouldn't care if I hurt him. Which is rude, because I totally care.

"You'd better not." My mother leveled one last withering glance at me, then at Vale, and left.

Vale looked at me, her eyes narrowing. "So. You heard her. Don't break the poor guy's heart because of your daddy issues."

I was going to throttle her. I shit fucking swear to god I was. I liked her, don't get me wrong, but fuck if I wasn't going to throttle her. "I'm _not_. Holy fucking shit. Why does everyone think I'm going to?"

Vale rolled her eyes. "Maybe because you live your life doing things without thinking about them first?"

Okay, that was fair. "Yeah, but I'll think about this before I do it. Okay?"

"You'd better. I don't want to die by diplomat."

When faced with the though of losing one's virginity, there a few things that go through one's head.

The first one is, am I really ready for this? The answer, of course, is usually yes. Losing one's virginity is almost always something that one is ready for. You've heard whispers about what it's like. People have talked about their first time. Most of the time, it's put forth as something awkward, so you mentally prepare yourself for it to be super awkward, because you really don't have any idea of what it's like to get it on with someone. You think you do, but you don't.

I just really fucking hope that someone somewhere would bother to tell Lasky that I was prepared to lose my fucking virginity for this mission to be successful. I deserved a fucking medal of fucking honor for that. Seriously.

The second thing that goes through one's mind when faced with the thought of losing one's virginity is that maybe the person you're planning to lose it with wasn't the right person to do it with. But then again, everyone in the universe sucks equally. They're all pieces of shit. The only thing you can do is plan for it to happen with someone you think is totally smexy and hope they're not literal shit when it comes to doing the hanky panky.

The third thing is that you're fucking terrified. It's a terrifying prospect. That's where I was at right now. Being literally terrified.

Let it be noted that I don't deal with emotions well. Those things are really inconvenient and complicate things. I'm really great at ignoring them. But sometimes, emotions are just too strong to ignore. It's even worse when they're too strong to ignore and totally unidentifiable. Feeling something strongly but having no idea what that feeling is? It's literal bullshit. And I've never liked it. But hey, here I was, feeling strong things and not knowing what I was feeling.

So, naturally, I was laying on my bed, in the room Vale and I shared, making guttural noises into a pillow.

Vale was laying on her bed too, as she'd come to try and offer some kind of support. I don't know how fulfilling it is to offer support to someone who's just laying down making weird ass noises, though.

"Khase, you're really starting to concern me." She said, sighing.

I just made another horrifying noise.

"I hope you know that you're not required to prostitute yourself for information."

I made another noise.

"You know what would be great right now? Language. Any kind of language. Sangheili or English. Or Spanish. I know a little Spanish. I could figure it out. Anything other than whatever the fuck you're doing right now to try and communicate would be good."

I pulled the pillow off of myself. "You know what Uul told me?"

"What?"

"He told me that Arbiter had asked my fucking mom if I'd chosen a mate for myself."

"Okay...?"

"And then when she told him I hadn't , he asked her permission to pursue me."

"And why do I care about that?"

Olympia Vale, the most suppportive fucking person ever. God, this support. I felt so supported.

"Vale, I literally do not give two shits if you actually care about that or not, but for the love of fucking hell, would you at least pretend to?"

"Okay. Here's me pretending I care."

"Thank you. If I'm going to get to a point where Thel will trust me enough to take my word about Uul, I'm going to have to sleep with him. That whole thing that went down in the hallway? Yeah, that just proved it."

Vale sighed from across the room. "So you decided to make out with the Kaidon of Vadam Keep to see if you could get in good with him to convince him your cousin was bad news?"

"You piece of shit. I made out with him because it seemed like it would be fun. And it was great, don't get me wrong. But at this point, I'm still not important enough for him to consider even thinking a guy, who has been an asset to him for literally like years, is someone he needs to blame for this whole thing. Small steps. Eventually, I'll be telling him that someone he's trusted for as long as I've been alive, if not longer, is the person behind the plot to kill him. And since we both intend for the assassination plot to fail, do you know what that means?"

I waited. Waited for her to get where I was going with this.

"Even if I didn't get it, I'm sure you'd find it in your heart to give me a thorough explanation." Vale was probably rolling her eyes at me.

"And you're absolutely right. If my father does actually try to assassinate Thel and fails, well, then Sangheili customs mandate that his whole family ends up being killed or whatever. Since my mother isn't actually married to him and has no attachment to him other than popping his kid out of her vagina, she'd be in the clear. Me? Yeah, I'd get all caught up in that. Which means that I have to at least be a great lay so that Thel wouldn't automatically order that someone kill me. I don't really want to die. That doesn't sound so fun. So, naturally, I have to give myself a position where if that assassination plot gets attempted, it'll be a little bit harder to order that I get killed."

Vale threw something at me. It hit me in the kneecap. "Just remember what your mom said."

"Oh, honey. You far underestimate my survival mechanism. I'll prostitute myself in any way I have to in order to stay alive."

Vale just started laughing.

"Shut the fuck up."

She kept laughing.

"I could die because my sperm donor is a goddamn idiot and all you can do is cackle like a hyena. I'm going to kill you."

Vale finally slowed her laughter. "The lengths you go to in order to avoid admitting you're into him is just incredible."

"Say what, motherfucker?" I sat up, pulling the pillow off my face.

She was leaning on her elbow, looking at me with amusement in her eyes. "You're totally into him. You know it. I know it. But you don't want to admit it, so you have to come up with a bunch of bullshit to pretend you aren't."

I stuffed the pillow back onto my face. "That's so wrong."

"Liar."

I pulled the pillow off my face and sat up again. "I'm not lying. I'm not into him. I'm just trying to keep my sperm donor's idiocy from catching up to me."

"Then prove it."

I shook my head as if to try and clear confusion. "How in the fuck would I prove that?"

"Execute the plan without sleeping with the Arbiter."

"And how, exactly, would you suggest that? You're the one who says beating the truth out of my dad is a terrible plan."

Vale rolled her eyes. "It is a terrible plan. But if you really wanted to avoid getting down with Thel 'Vadam, you'd totally do that."

"So the fact that I want to be smart about this plan shows I'm into him?" I was incredulous. I was pretty sure she was trying to get me to admit something but fuck it if I was going to give her that satisfaction.

"No, the fact that you're totally into him shows you're into him." Vale smirked at me.

"That doesn't even make-" I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence, since someone started banging at the door to our room.

I sighed and pulled myself off the bed, dragging my sorry carcass to the door.

Uul was standing outside. He had an energy sword. And it was pointed at me.

"Uh. Uul?" I asked, slowly, readying myself.

"Cousin." He said shortly, almost snapping at me.

I heard Vale stand up.

"What's the occassion for the weapon?" I asked, softly, keeping my eyes on him.

Uul smirked. "I may or may not need this sword. I must ask you a question, and I hope you will answer me honestly."

I shrugged. "Yeah, okay. I can do that." Honesty, I couldn't promise. Telling him whatever the hell he wanted to hear so he didn't turn me into a shish kebab? Well, that I could definitely promise him.

"Did you lie to me about the plot to assassinate the Arbiter?"

I threw him a look. Out of all the things I've lied about in my life, that's the thing he chose to be suspicious of? This just solidified my desire to never tell anyone the truth about anything, ever. "No? Why would I lie about that?"

He shrugged. "I had to know. As I had told you, I have come to consider the Arbiter as a close friend. I would not want him dead. But I feel, in the name of redemption, that I owe you an explanation."

I folded my arms. Trying to protect my internal organs from the energy sword, in case he tried to use it. "I'm listening."

"I have lied to you, cousin."

Goddamnit. Vale would never let me hear the end of that. "How so?"

"I would like to tell you that I do not have any knowledge of a plot to assassinate the Arbiter. I have never had knowledge of that, and if I had, I would have done what I must to ensure his safety. However, the matter of the Spartan is different."

Wait, what?

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Go on."

"I must admit to you, I am the individual behind the capturing and holding of the Spartan."

I took a step back. "WHAT?"

"It is I. But it is not for the reasons you have been lead to believe."

I rubbed my hand on my forehead. "Okay. Please elaborate on that."

Uul nodded. "I am holding the Spartan. I will not inform you as to where. But I will tell you that I am not holding her under the reasoning of assassinating the Arbiter. I have no such animosity against him. I consider him a powerful ally and a trusted friend. The reason I hold the Spartan is that I have a long held grudge against one who is close to her, and wish to meet him in combat."

I stared at Uul. "You what?"

"I have a long held grudge against one who is close to her. One to whom she means a great deal. I intended to use her to lure him to this planet. I have no desire to harm the Spartan Kelly-087. She means nothing to me. The individual that I desire to exact revenge towards is her colleague and friend, John-117."

What the fucking hell was even going on here? I thew a look back towards Vale, who was looking just as shocked and confused as I was.

I waved my arms around. I didn't think my internal organs were in particular danger, I figured he had just brought the energy sword just in case I decided to be that psycho bitch I had a reputation for being. "So...you have Kelly. She's fine. She's safe. You have no intention of hurting her, you just want to get the Chief here so you can fight him to the death for purposes of revenge?"

"That is correct."

I shook my head, trying to understand. "So...you have no idea who wants to kill the Arbiter or why? And there's no reason for the UNSC to stop the plot?"

"To my knowledge, no. There is no reason. But should they attempt to rescue Spartan 087, I have no qualms about killing her. I desire to face Spartan 117. That is why I have decided to keep her here against her will. I know that you care for the Arbiter and that is why I decided to tell you the truth of my intentions." He looked at me, earnestly searching my face.

You know what? The Chief could kick Uul's ass any day of the week. Any time. Probably in his sleep. I was about to make an executive decision here for the greater good.

"Uul? Why don't you contact the Infinity and tell Lasky that the only reason you have Kelly is because you want the Chief here so you can exact revenge? I'm sure he wouldn't mind that much, considering you have no intention of hurting Kelly. Right?" I leaned forward, staring right into Uul's eyes.

"I do not. All I wish for is to meet the Master Chief in combat."

I smiled, as charmingly as I could. "Good. Then you should send a message to Lasky, asking him to send the Chief. That way, you get what you want, the UNSC can help thwart the plot against Thel and everyone wins."

Uul would die. That's for damn sure. The Chief would kill him. But hey, at least he'd get what he wanted, right?

Uul looked at me, with some measure of suspicion. "And how do I know there is indeed a plot to assassinate Arbiter, and it isn't a lie you fed me to force me to tell you the truth?"

Vale answered before I had a chance to. "The great thing about that is, she was ready to believe everything you said before you came here to confess." I could practically hear her thoughts, the ones calling me an idiot and what I guessed would be some other choice terms. "So I guess the only thing now we have to ask is if you're willing to help us kill Kal 'Nradaman before he has a chance to kill Arbiter?"

Uul stared at her for a long moment. "I am willing. What is it you need me to do?"

Vale stared back at him. "Contact the Infinity. Only then will we believe what you have to say. If you don't, we'll be forced to do to you what we plan to do to him."

Uul stared at her for a moment longer. Then he turned to look at me. "I sincerely hope that my coming to you has given you what you need to consider me someone you may trust, and that you will take this information and use it in the manner that allows you to not only save Arbiter's life, but to establish a friendship between us that is long overdue."

I couldn't even answer. I was too dumbfounded. All I could do was nod at him as he left. Then I whirled around to face Vale. "What the fuck just happened?"

Vale shook her head. "I think we just found out that there's a metric fuckton of bullshit going down on this planet and the UNSC has absolutely no idea about it."

"Yeah, I think you're right. But what the fuck am I supposed to do about that?"

Vale suddenly laughed. "If all he wants is to have an epic showdown with the Master Chief, then that's something we don't even need to worry about. Seriously. Master Chief would obliterate him. He assured us Kelly is safe. And the fact that he came here to tell you the truth and let you know that shows he's scared shitless enough of you that he wouldn't dare to do anything to her if it meant it would piss you off. But that leaves us with our original problem."

"The original problem of telling Thel that someone he's trusted for years wants to kill him, but we don't know why."

"Exactly. Which means one thing."

"That I'm going to have to bone the Arbiter."

"What? No. That's nowhere even close to where I was going with this. Holy hell. Sometimes I really wonder who the fuck dropped you on your head as a child and made you the way you are. What it means is that we're still going to have to be careful to not reveal that we know anything about the plot and find a way to prove that your father is responsible."

"That too."

Vale rolled her eyes. "You know what? Just go."

I squinted at her. "What do you mean?"

Vale threw a hand out towards the door. "I mean go and do your thing. Do it. Do him. Do whatever it takes to get him on board and to get your head out of your goddamned vagina. Go."

I opened my mouth for a savage retort, but she strode over and pushed me towards the door. "Go. Do your thing. Don't come back until you've done it."

"Vale, I shit fucking-"

"Yeah, you will be shit fucking. If you don't, I'll kill you. Get the hell out of here and don't come back until you've bumped uglies with the guy we need to convince your sperm donor is bad news, okay?"

I just gave her the rudest gesture I could think of as she shoved me out the door.

I was pacing in front of the door to Thel 'Vadam's quarters. I knew he wasn't there. He was off doing something and wasn't there. He probably wouldn't show up for a while. He had important shit to do, which left me free to pace in front of his door.

Did I go in?

I rubbed a hand over my forehead. Yeah, I'd go in.

I walked into the room. It was huge. Of course it was. He was a big guy, of course he'd have a big room. There was a large bed, probably large enough to fit my entire ODST Team in comfortably. God, I missed them. Don't get me wrong, Vale was pretty cool. But I loved my ODST team. I missed Ewing, and Christy. I hoped they were okay. That they weren't worried about me. I also hoped I'd make it back alive enough to see them again. Maybe go on a mission or two. Maybe save a few lives.

Being a combat surgeon was my passion. I loved the rush of saving someone's life in the middle of a firefight. Feeling them almost literally come back to life under the skilled touch of my hands. Everything made so much sense when I was putting someone back together, bringing them back from death.

I craved things that made sense. Things that were absolute, things that didn't change. The way the human body worked didn't change. Putting it back into working order was so theraputic. And I was so damn good at it.

Feelings didn't make sense. Life didn't make sense. Life gave you a whole load of steaming shit and expected you to make sense of what you could. Muscle, bone, organs. Those things made sense. They were all meant to work a certain way to keep the body alive. Life? That had no rational order and no routine function in order to sustain someone.

I ran my hand over the mirror in front of me, staring at my reflection. I was tall for a human. I was heavily muscled for a human. I looked human. I looked human as hell, aside from the scars on my face. I was small for a Sangheili. Wimpy, for a Sangheili.

I put my hand flat on the mirror and studied myself, with a ruthless consideration I never had before. I had that depressingly average brown hair. Not even the kind of brown that can be described as chestnut, or some other flattering adjective. Nah. It was literally just the most average brown you can think of. My eyes were a yellowish brown. There was nothing special about them. Nothing at all. My face was okay, I guess. It was a face. Slightly pretty. My mom was gorgeous. Like, incredibly gorgeous. Me? Average. I was literally average in every single fucking way.

I pulled myself away from the mirror, not wanting to look at my depressingly average self anymore, but instead wanting to snoop a little. I was in Thel's room. No one was around, and I had free reign of this place. So, naturally, I went through everything I could.

The asshole didn't keep anything important in his most personal space. What a fucking bag of dicks. How was I supposed to find anything if he didn't keep anything here? Then again, maybe I was the reason he didn't keep anything there. Maybe he knew I'd end up here at some point and decided to keep anything important out of my reach.

I sighed, and threw myself down onto his bed. I stared at the decorative Sangheili ceiling, wishing that I was back on the Infinity, doing whatever my team was doing, living the military life. It was so much less complicated there, and no one's lives depended on me. Well, they did, but not in the way that I had to come up with elaborate plans. It was just body parts that needed to be put back in working order, and that I could do. This stupid fucking brain of mine? I couldn't make that be smarter. I could do surgery. That, and if I was on the Infinity, I could pretend I didn't really have family. Pretending your family doesn't exist makes things so much easier.

I heard voices talking outside the door, and sat up abruptly. I wasn't supposed to be here. I jumped off the ridiculously comfortable bed and crept up to the door.

The voices I heard were Thel's and someone else's. I wasn't sure who's voice it was. So I pushed my face up against the door, trying to listen.

The other voice was saying something about Uul.

Oh? Do tell, motherfucker. I'm interested.

I tried not to breathe so I could hear. Goddamn, these Sangheili doors. They don't let sound in or out very well. Which was great when you were having a super secretive conversation that you didn't want someone on the other side of the door to hear, but not so great when you were that person trying to eavesdrop on a super secretive conversation.

I managed to catch something about Uul being very secretive with his business outside of 'Nradaman Keep. I also managed to catch something about my mom being very insistent that Admiral Hood visit Sanghelios in the near future.

Then, there was a joke about women from the two assholes outside the door, about how women need to get what we want to keep us from raising hell. I almost charged through the door to tell them why that was bullshit, then realized how that would totally reveal my eavesdropping and decided to just grit my teeth in silence. And then I heard it.

"I deeply appreciate your assistance, Kal. You may take your leave of me now."

That was definitely Thel, who was definitely talking to my sperm donor. If there ever was a time to beat information out of my sperm donor, this was it. But, I am a very mature individual who does not condone senseless violence, so I decided against it.

I heard my sperm donor, Kal, say something about the Arbiter enjoying his time of rest before their VERY IMPORTANT MEETING in a couple of hours.

A very important meeting, hmm? Sounds like something I would definitely love to be present for.

Thel responded with some polite bullshit intended to be pleasantries but showed he really just wanted to leave to go into his room.

And that was the point where I realized he was definitely going to walk into his quarters, realize I was there and most likely accuse me of eavesdropping.

Aw, fuck. I had to do something that would prove I definitely wasn't eavesdropping.

I ripped off my shirt and threw it across the room, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I did so.

Damn, Khase. Looks like you've been working out. Being the narcissistic piece of shit I am, I naturally had to pause and admire myself. I may make an ugly human and not look like a Sangheili at all, but at least I had some definition on my abs. Nice. Go me.

My pants soon followed, and I was in Thel 'Vadam's room wearing only a pair of super fucking ugly UNSC issued undergarments. Nice. Hella sexy, Khase. That military underwear definitely canceled any attractiveness my body might've had.

Doesn't matter. I'd look as ugly as I had to if it meant that no one would suspect I was eavesdropping or trying to manipulate Thel 'Vadam. Sometimes, you have to make sacrifices and wear fugly underwear. Shit happens.

I heard Thel say something to my sperm donor that indicated he was about to walk into his room. I turned to retreat as quickly as possible to the massive bed.

Fuck it. All or nothing.

I ripped of the UNSC issued bra and almost sighed at the complete and total relief of freeing my breasts. Those UNSC issued bras were not only designed for support, those things were designed to make it seeem like your chest was flatter than the topography of a freshly glassed planet.

Well, here I was, wearing nothing but a pair of stupidly ugly military issued underwear, throwing myself onto the Arbiter's bed. There wasn't any going back now.

How do you even approach this situation? Fuck if I knew. It's not like I'd ever been in this situation before.

The door opened, and Thel lumbered in, letting the door close behind him. He sighed and ran a hand over his face.

Do I lay here like a fucking corpse? Do I say something? Do I drop and roll off the bed, and pretend I'm not here? I don't know.

I decided dropping and rolling off the bed as quietly as possible was probably the best option. Why? I don't fucking know. It just seemed like a good thing to do. So I did.

So there I was, quietly kneeling by the side of the bed. Hiding. Like a goddamn little bitch.

I heard Thel taking off his armor, slowly. Piece by piece. It must be uncomfortable to have to walk around wearing armor everywhere you go because people hate you so much.

It wasn't like this situation was going to unfold in a way that wasn't awkward, so I decided that I may as well stand up and make my mostly naked presence known.

I stood up, folded my arms, effectively covering my breasts, and said, as non-sensually as possible, "Thel."

He whirled around, as if readying himself for a fight. My saying his name had almost sounded like I was about to challenge him to a fight. I said it so aggressively. Maybe we should fight before having sex? Is that a good form of Sangheili foreplay? I'd imagine so.

I could definitely fight him, but it would be a fight of the most kinky variety, and I'm not sure how he'd take that.

He had apparently noticed that not only was I there, that I was in a state of pretty fucking naked, so he turned around, facing away from me.

Goddamnit, Thel. How am I supposed to make you hang on my every crazy theory if you won't even look at me when I decide to get naked in your room?

"Khase, why are you here? What are you doing?" He said, roughly, still not turning to face me.

I was standing here, mostly naked, in his room, right next to his bed. Like, did I have to spell this out? I'd thought it'd be pretty fucking obvious what was going on, but no. Apparently I needed to tell him that I was offering him my maidenhood or whatever.

I opened my mouth to make some sort of sarcastic and withering remark communicating that, but nothing came out. Holy shit, my throat was dry. And holy shit, was my body shaking.

Thel finally slowly turned around to look at me. But only at my face. What a guy. He wasn't looking at the boobs my arms were covering. Such a gentleman.

"Khase." His voice sounded strangled. "Why are you here?"

Gee, Thel. Not sure. I kind of just found myself mostly naked in your room. Can't fucking imagine why. It's a mystery, isn't it?

I managed to find some semblance of verbal communication. "I'm here."

Well, that just fucking explained everything. I was here. Congratu-fucking-lations to me. I managed to tell him that I was indeed here, in this room, and I wasn't just a fucking figment of his goddamn imagination. Way to go, Khase. Gold star in communication for you.

"I am aware, Khase, that you are here. What I ask is why you have seen it fit to undress yourself."

I shit fucking swear to god if the next thing that came out of my mouth was "I'm here" or something of the like, I was just going to roll myself under the bed and start smacking my head against the frame.

Why had I decided this was a good idea? My heart was pounding. I was shaking. I felt like I was going to throw up, and him across the room fucking judging me wasn't helping.

"Thel." I said, taking in a sharp intake of breath. "Just get over here."

He looked up towards the ceiling, but slowly took a few steps towards me.

The closer he got, the more my heart pounded frantically in my chest.

"Khase. I must ask you to leave. Please." He was indeed pleading with me, still not looking anywhere but at my face.

"Why?" I asked, slowly unfolding my arms to let them hang loosely at my sides.

He took a breath, and still looking up at the ceiling. "Khase, you do not know what you do to me."

I took a step forwards towards him, closing the gap between us. "I do to you exactly what I mean to."

Thel shook his head, still not looking at me. "Khase, you do not mean to do to me what you are doing now."

Well, that was cryptic as fuck. And I'm pretty sure that I meant to try and seduce the fucker, so if that's what he was talking about, then I definitely meant to do that.

Well, clearly this whole shebang was up to me to get going. So I slowly uncrossed my arms. "Look at me." I said, using my most confident voice. Which, due to my insane nerves, came out a little higher and shriller than I'd have liked. It was most definitely unsexy and literally not confident at all.

He stared at the ceiling for a moment longer, then very unwillingly dragged his eyes to my face. "Yes?" He asked, sounding a little strangled.

I just shook my head. I was practically offering my vagina up on a silver platter and he still wasn't getting the goddamn hint.

So I took a few steps forward, until I was so close that I could feel the heat radiating from his body. "Thel." I said, softly. "I came here because..." I trailed off, trying to think of where I was going to go with this bullshit. I can't talk about sex. I end up using awkward sounding euphemisms that'd make anyone's genitals run for the hills.

He was looking at me, his chest heaving slightly. I was looking right into his eyes, getting lost in those amber pools of intensity that were looking at me with a passion I was afraid to delve into, his gaze sending a shudder through my body.

He slowly reached a hand out and touched my face. "You came here because...?" He prompted me to continue, softly, tracing my cheekbone with his hand.

I closed my eyes, took a breath and tried to swallow my nerves. Tried to calm the butterflies in my stomach. Tried to calm the shaking of my body. Prayed to whatever fucking deity out there that I wouldn't chicken out.

"Because I want you." There. It was out there, hanging in the open. I'd said it. There wasn't any taking it back.

Thel closed the small space between us, his body brushing mine lightly. "Khase..." He said, his deep voice reverberating in his chest, reverberating in a way I could almost feel.

I ran my hands up his sides and leaned my forehead against his chest, inhaling the scent of his skin. He softly brought his hands up my back, his gentle touch sending a spark through my very veins. He brought his head down and softly nuzzled the side of my neck, pressing my half naked body into his with his hands.

He moved his mouth to my ear and said, in a whisper harsh and guttural from desire, "Khase, are you sure of this?"

"I'm absolutely sure." I whispered back to him, moving my hands down his sides, gripping his body.

He wrapped his arms around my body, tightly, and pressed me to him so I could feel his deeply muscled body and his...dear god. Dear fucking god.

Moving his face from my neck to my lips, he pressed his mandibles to my mouth for a brief moment, testing my reaction.

I kissed him, slowly, closing my eyes and relishing the pressure of his mouth on mine, his hands on me, his body pressed to mine. He tasted like the air after a storm, warm and calm, yet still with the threat of dangerous passion lurking just past the surface. He kissed me back, his tongue slowly finding mine, entangling with mine, his teeth gently biting my tongue.

I wanted more. Holy hell, I wanted more. His gentle, yet bold caresses had ignited a fire in me that couldn't be put out with the small amount of rain his touch was now providing me.

Ripping myself from his grasp, I pulled back and looked up at him, my breath coming in short, shallow gasps. I gripped his forearms with my fingers, nails digging in, and managed to force out a strangled sentence. "I want you, now."

He understood me. He understood that I didn't want him to slowly and gently stoke the fire inside me, the one that burned in the most intimate parts of my body, because that fire was already blazing, and starting to burn my body from the inside out. He understood that I wanted him to quell the fiery rage in whatever way he possibly could.

In short, I wanted him to just fuck me.

We didn't even make it to his bed. We were maybe six or seven feet away, but we didn't even make it that far.

Thel picked me up, his hands under my ass, squeezing. He went down towards the floor, my arms around his neck, my legs encircling his torso, and put me on the floor on my back underneath him.

He was so large, and his weight, though he made sure to keep most of it off of me, was heavy enough to pin me and give me the feeling of being absolutely powerless. He positioned me underneath him, and trailed his fingers down from my neck, between my breasts, and down my stomach. I couldn't stop the sharp gasp of breath his fingers elicited from me. He was breathing heavily, his eyes almost glazed over as their gaze followed his fingers path down my body.

Leaning forward, he pressed his mouth to mine, then pulled back slightly and murmured, "Is this what you want, Khase?"

"Yes." I gasped, trying and failing miserably to pretend as though I wasn't pathetically desperate for his touch.

He said nothing further, but searched my face for a reaction as his fingers dipped into the ugly ass UNSC issued underwear I had on.

My hips rose, not of my doing, but of an involuntary response to a pleasure I'd never thought existed in this world. His fingers were gently circling my clitoris, sending an electric shock of pleasure through my entire body. I gasped again, reaching down and involuntarily gripping the hand was touching me in ways I didn't know my body could be touched.

His fingers ceased movement, and his eyes filled with concern. "You do not...?" He stopped, still searching my face.

I took a deep breath as I slowly came back to reality, the waves of pleasure ceasing with the cessation of movement from his fingers. "Arbiter, my Arbiter, if you don't keep going, I will literally cut off your fucking arm and use it to give me what I need myself." I growled, the insane desire for more posessing me and forcing my voice into low pitches of lust.

Giving a low laugh deep in his chest, he resumed movement of his fingers, moving them slightly faster, flicking over the small area that had so large an effect on me. My breath was coming in short gasps, my hips moved up and down to a rhythm that he seemed to be teaching my body to move to. The inferno in my being flared hotter, brighter, and everything fell away. I was left to the mercy of the sensations that Thel 'Vadam was giving to me.

I came so fast, it was almost embarrassing. In one instant, I was wishing for something I didn't quite know what, the next instant I was seeing the spirals of galaxies in an endless space, feeling the explosive power of a supernova, burning bright and hot through my entire being, and then slowly coming down, like the light of a dying star.

My chest was heaving, I was shaking and sweating, my mouth making sounds I didn't know could be torn from my lips.

Thel pulled his hand away, grasped the waistband of my underwear with both hands and slowly pulled it off of my hips, down my thighs, off my ankles and then tossed it aside. He loomed over me, taking ample time to drink in the sight of my body.

I took some time myself to appreciate the hulking, heavily muscled frame on top of me. I ran my fingers lightly over the rippling abdominal muscles, hard and defined from years of physical activity.

Those abs weren't the only thing that was hard, if you know what I mean. In fact, I think the non-abs part was definitely harder at this moment in time.

"Whoooaaaa-kay." I said, definitely appreciating the sight, yet more than a bit apprehensive due to the sheer size of it.

As a surgeon, I'd seen literally every part of the human body. But no human could come close to matching the size of a full grown elite, and I do mean full grown.

Thel, the ever attentive lover, had noticed my expression. "There is nothing to fear. I will be gentle." He said, softly, leaning down and putting his mandibles over my mouth. "I will be gentle with you, Khase."

I nodded, shifted to a slightly more comfortable position on my back and wrapped my hands around the backs of his triceps, gripping them a little too tightly.

Thel pushed his pelvis down towards mine, positioning himself at the entrance to my body. I felt him gently push the tip into me, his breath quickening in rhythm with mine.

Oh, god. There was no way this would be comfortable. There was no way. I grimaced and felt my body tense in anticipation of pain.

Thel's face lowered to mine, and he touched his forehead against my forehead, staring deeply into my eyes. "If this is to provide you pleasure, you must relax." He said, softly, his amber eyes full of lust and what looked like something deeper.

Relax? Right, okay. Because the thought of a large object trying to fit into a tiny hole that could potentially cause me pain makes relaxation super easy.

"How do you know?" I demanded. "How many humans have you slept with?"

Thel blinked and shook his head slightly. "That has no bearing-"

"Seriously, how many?" I demanded, feeling the temperature in my body start to rise, but not in the way it should have been rising.

He stared at me for a long moment, then heaved himself up off of me to stand upright, looking down at me. "I think that we are finished." His voice was low, deep and slightly angry.

I jumped up too, and took a step towards him. "Are we? Because I don't remember saying we're finished."

"Khase, we are done here." He turned his back on me and started to walk away.

Like hell we were done.

I followed him and grabbed his arm. "Don't walk-"

He threw my hand off of his arm and got right in my face. "We are through. That is my will and what I will is done!" He roared at me, his voice growing deeper and rougher.

I met his gaze, his face inches from mine, refusing to back down. He didn't get to intimidate me.

Then, I couldn't take it anymore. Grabbing his face, I shoved my mouth onto his and bit him as hard as I could, my hands moving around to the back of his head, my nails digging in.

He made a guttural noise that was part pain, part pleasure.

"We're not done." I mumbled through lips that were pressed against his.

He only made another guttural, desperate noise and picked me up, his hands clawing at my back, at my hair, at any part of me his hands could reach, his mouth ravaging mine with an almost fury.

And then my back was slammed against a wall, hard enough knock what little breath I had from my body. I gasped for air against his mouth, gripping his neck. He never stopped, not for one second. I could feel him throbbing against my abdomen as he took one of my legs and wrapped it around his hips.

He drove into me like someone deranged, hard, deep and decidedly not gentle. God, it hurt. It felt like my body was being split in two, like I had been torn in half, never to be put back together. It burned. I couldn't stop the cry that escaped me, a cry communicating pain that I'd never felt before.

Thel never slowed. He pulled himself out, then thrust back in, deeper. The pain was less intense, and it was fading as my body stretched to accomodate the massive Sangheili girth that was penetrating me.

Then, slowly, the burning pain faded into a different kind of burn, the kind that told me I needed something, needed him. I needed him to keep going, go harder, to go faster. I was making little noises of pleasure in response to each of his thrusts. Thel moved purposefully, fervently in and out of me, his teeth snarling next to my ear, making sounds I'd never heard come from him before.

He quickened his thrusts to an almost frenzied pace, and I felt that same inferno building in me that I had when he'd touched me with his hands. I laced my arms up under his and dug my nails into his back, moaning. His breath was coming in short, shallow hisses, his body was hot and smelled of arousal.

And suddenly, I was seeing those spiraled galaxies again, feeling the explosive heat of the supernova.

I couldn't stop what I can only describe as an animalistic utterance of pure pleasure. At least, that's how I'd like to describe it. What really came out was a creative assortment of the word "Fuck".

I ended my first time having sex screaming profanities at the top of my lungs. Great.

"Khase!" Thel's voice was hoarse, and it seemed as though my name was the requirement he had to fill to obtain his own release.

He pulsed inside me, his body convulsed around me, and suddenly I could feel something warm and sticky, running out of me and onto the floor.

Thel's breathing began to slow, as did his thrusts. Finally, he stopped altogether, gently putting me back on the floor, where I tried to stand.

I couldn't stand. I sank to the floor, my legs having no ability to work.

Looking up, I saw Thel 'Vadam looking down at me, an unreadable expression in his eyes, his breathing still labored. I looked up at him and leaned back against the wall, trying to slow my own breathing.

And then I started to laugh.

He frowned slightly, shifting his weight. "What are you laughing at?"

I shrugged, still laughing, trying to process all the emotions that were flooding me and manifesting themselves into weirdly unsettling laughter. "I don't know. The world? It's such a crazy place. Why not laugh at it?"

His frown deepend into a scowl. "I do not think what has just taken place is a laughing matter."

I coughed, trying to stop the laughter that was still bubbling out of me. "It's not. I don't know why I'm laughing."

He stood there, arms at his sides, in the most vulnerable way I'd ever seen him. "Was it...?" He trailed off, seeming as though it would be too difficult for him to finish his sentence.

I just smiled and closed my eyes. "It was great." I laughed again.

He stepped forward and offered me a hand to help me up. I accepted and he easily lifted me up off the floor.

As soon as I was in a standing position, I knew that gravity was going to be a bitch. Standing up caused a deluge of bodily fluids to exit me, bodily fluids I was pretty sure weren't mine. All I knew is that something sticky was running down my thighs.

Thel stared down at my thighs, his mouth slightly agape. "Khase, you are bleeding."

"I what?" I threw a look down. Sure enough, I was bleeding. Well, that was just awesome.

I went full medical, throwing on my clothes as quicky as I could. I don't know where Thel had thrown my underwear, and I didn't care to look for it.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning, I saw Thel, searching my face with his gaze, seeming like he needed me to say something. "Khase-" He stopped and took a breath. "I have to know that you-"

I stopped him by grabbing his face and planting one on him. "I gotta go. I'm bleeding. I'm sure I'll find myself back here at some point."

Turning, I left his room, walking into the corridor.

Where my mother was standing, with her arms folded.

The walk of shame just got a whole lot fucking worse. "Uh. Mom?" I gave her this awkward smile that looked far more like I was just baring my teeth.

She raised her eyebrows at me. "Child."

I threw a look from her to the large Sangheili who was standing next to her, also clearly waiting for Thel to leave his room.

OH FUCK.

FUCK NO.

YOU HAVE TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME.

My mother did the same teeth baring smile back to me and said breezily, "Khase, I'm sure you remember Kal 'Nradaman."

There was no use even trying to straighten my sex hair. Or do anything to pretend that I hadn't just had mad hot sex with Thel 'Vadam. The only thing I could do right now was pray for a lightning bolt to finally take my ass out for all the blasphemous stuff I'd ever said. That lighting bolt was way overdue. Why not have it take me now?

I coughed and nodded. "Yes. I do. How goes it?" I inquired trying to seem as professional as possible.

Kal 'Nradaman leveled a glare at me. "It goes." He then gestured towards the door to Thel 'Vadam's chambers. "He is overdue for the meeting we all must attend. We came to find whether he was occupied. I can see that he was."

Fuck my liiiiffffeeeeee.

I cleared my throat and threw a look to my mother, who's head was tilted and she was smirking. The asshole was totally enjoying my absolute mortification.

Then it got even fucking worse.

Thel stepped out of his room.

He stopped short when he noticed that the parents of the girl he'd just fucked were both standing outside.

His eyes darted nervously towards my mother. "Annabella. Kal. Is there something you need?"

My mother just smiled at him. "We need you for the issue we discussed earlier. But not as badly as my child apparently needed you."

Holy fucking shit. Goddamnit, mom. I rubbed my forehead, knowing full well my mother was totally enjoying my humiliation.

Thel cleared his throat. "I am sure she no longer needs me, and I will come with you."

Please, do not say the word "come", Thel. Not in this situation, not in front of my mother. Just no.

I waved my arm. "You know, I have somewhere I really need to be. Vale wants to learn how to sever someone's head with an energy sword and I think I'd make the perfect head for her to practice severing." I whirled around and walked away from that happy little group as quickly as I could, and didn't stop walking quickly until I was back to my own room.

Vale looked up as I entered the room, an eyebrow raised. "So?" She asked.

I just gave this whisper-scream thing of agony and walked into the bathroom to shower.

"I hope you know that literally communicated nothing to me." Vale yelled.

"It means that I had sex with Thel 'Vadam and I walked out to find both my parents waiting for me so they could silently judge me, that's what that communicates to you!" I yelled back through the bathroom door.

I heard Vale start laughing her ass off.

I made another whisper-scream and tried to shower away all the mortification.

There wasn't a loofah in the world that could scrub that off, though.

Fuck me.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author Note: Not sure who that last chapter was more mortifying for, myself or my character. Anyway, this chapter will focus on advancing the plot, and bringing back in some characters I've definitely missed writing for. I'm so stressed because my wedding is in 6 days and my dress doesn't fit so this story may go through a crazy amount of updating in the next 6 days.**_

When I got out of the shower, Vale was gone. Good. If she kept laughing at the most humiliating moment of my entire miserable life, I'd have definitely strangled her with a bedsheet.

I got dressed and started to towel dry my hair. As I did, still swearing under my breath about the events that had occurred earlier, someone started pounding on my door and yelling.

"What the fucking fuck?" I muttered under my breath, throwing a look at the door.

Whoever was pounding at the door was screaming about needing a doctor because they were bleeding, they were bleeding badly, she'd tried to kill them and they were bleeding. Then a second voice, a female voice, started yelling that it was literally nothing and that they were fine.

I busted through the door and came face to face with Karl and Christy. "Wha-wai-who-the fu-" I couldn't even manage to finish a sentence I was so shocked.

"Surprise!" Karl threw up his best jazz hands.

"Surprise?" Christy followed up with some weak ass, unsure jazz hands. You blazing idiot. If you're going to go for jazz hands, fucking commit to the jazz hands. Christ.

"You guys are fucking weird." That commentary, similar to my own internal commentary, came from Greg, who was standing back away from the two fucking weirdos in front of him, apparently trying to distance himself from them. I didn't blame him.

"Why are you guys here?" I demanded, looking from Karl to Christy.

"Well, it's kind of weird." Karl stopped with the jazz hands, thank fucking god, and folded his arms. "So Lasky got a message from the guy who's supposedly planning to kill the important Sangheili guy-"

"-Arbiter." I corrected him, jabbing a finger at him. "Arbiter. Thel 'Vadam. He's very important and needs to stay alive."

"Yeah, whatever. That dude." Karl waved a hand dismissively.

Christy stared at me for a long moment, then her eyes narrowed. Later, my sweet. Trust me, you'll hear all about this later.

"Anyway," Karl continued, "Captain Lasky-" He stopped and made this little growling noise, licking his lips obnoxiously. "- got a message from the guy who was supposedly in charge of that, and it turns out that guy definitely doesn't want the Sangheili dude dead."

"Arbiter, Karl, the fucking Arbiter. Fucking shit on a stick, he's called Arbiter."

"Literally no one cares, Adams. Literally no one. No one fucking cares. Shut the fuck up and let me talk." Ewing threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "It turns out that guy doesn't want the ARBITER DUDE dead, he just wanted the Master Chief to come down and have a fight to the death because the Chief apparently killed his mate and he wants revenge, so that's who took Kelly."

I sighed. "Yes, Ewing, I know. I know this because Uul is my fucking cousin and told me the whole story about why he's holding Kelly and I'm the one who convinced him to contact the Infinity to let the Captain know he had nothing to do with the assassination plot."

"Wait, you cousin kidnapped a Spartan?" Greg was immediately interested, stepping forward. "Holy shit. Your family has balls."

"Yeah, well, turns out the Sword of Sanghelios who donated the sperm that lead to my existence might be the one in charge of the plot to kill Thel 'Vadam, so you have no idea how true that statement is." I rubbed my forehead, closing my eyes.

"Okay, so I'm no expert on Sangheili customs, but if the plot to kill the Arbiter fails, like it's supposed to, doesn't that mean the entire family of the guy who heads up the assassination plot gets killed?" Christy said, slowly, lowering a concerned gaze at me.

I smiled brightly at her. "You're exactly right."

"So you're kind of fucked." Karl said, looking at me in astonishment.

"No, I'm not. I'm taking the necessary steps to make sure that Thel 'Vadam will have to at least think twice before ordering my sperm donor's entire family gets killed." I said casually, waving a hand.

"What kind of steps?" Christy narrowed her eyes at me.

God fucking dammit Christy, stop looking at me like that.

"The necessary steps." I told her, giving her a wide eyed "shut the fuck up" look.

She suddenly took a step back. "Oh my god."

"Christy." I said, pointing a finger at her. "No."

"Oh my god!" She yelled, throwing her arms out. "Oh my fucking god!"

"Christy, I shit fucking swear to god, you shut the fuck up right now." I turned and faced her, glaring, my eyebrows almost at my hairline.

"You slept with the important Sangheili guy!" She hissed at me, taking another step back. I could kick her ass if I wanted to, and she knew it.

I gritted my teeth and threw my gaze up to the ceiling. "Jamison, I will kill you."

"Whoaaaa." Karl breathed, looking at me in awe. "No way."

"That's so underhanded. I love it." Greg hooted.

"I will kill you all. I have scalpels." I threatened, glaring at each of them.

"Okay, seriously, I have to know: how was it?" Karl said, stepping right up to me like we were going to fucking gossip or something.

"Karl, shut the hell up."

"Kasey, tell me how it was. I've heard they're..." He wiggled his eyebrows and made a gesture.

"Gross, Karl. Super fucking gross."

"Kasey, fucking tell me. Is it like...huge?" He breathed, giving me this wide eyed look.

"Ewing, I will fucking cut you and then watch you bleed. For science. I swear to god."

Greg laughed. "That's a 'yes' if I've ever heard one." He turned to Christy. "Right, Chris? The threat of violence means it's definitely huge."

"Absolutely. You're so obvious, Adams." Christy smacked me, mockingly.

"It's not big." I said, glaring at her. "It's like, super tiny." I turned to Ewing. "It's fucking TINY, Ewing." I held up my pinkie finger. "Like, this big. Maybe even smaller than that."

"Bullshit." Ewing scoffed.

"No, no. I'm serious. Super tiny. Like, tiny enough that you'll never have to be afraid of them and challenge one to a duel because they're so tiny they won't pose a threat." I nodded, looking as sincere as possible.

Ewing smirked and folded his arms. "So you mean to tell me you got down and dirty with an important Sangheili dude and he was ridiculously tiny?"

I squinted at him. "Yes."

"Bullshit!"

"No, I assure you, she tells the truth. She is never anything but truthful." A deep voice spoke from behind Greg.

No. Please, no. God, no.

Greg spun around, and found himself face to face with, well, a crotch. His eyes slowly traveled upward until he was staring almost straight up at the hulking Sangheili form that had just snuck up behind him. "Uhh..." Greg's voice trailed off into a squeak.

I was pinching the bridge of my nose, trying not to scream. "Greg. Meet the one Ewing keeps referring to as the 'important Sangheili dude', Thel 'Vadam." I sighed. I couldn't help it. I might as well just resign myself to forever being mortified while I was on this planet.

Greg noticed how calm I was and apparently decided he didn't have to be afraid. He looked up at Thel, who was still looking at me with a decidedly weary expression. The kind of expression that said, "I am eternally tired of your shit, Khase". He'd been wearing that expression since I was old enough to talk, though, so that was nothing new.

"So, she's telling the truth about..." Greg wiggled his pinkie finger.

Thel bent down like they were having a conversation in confidence. "Oh, absolutely. It's a great affliction of mine, but it seems as though it is the only thing she desires."

Haha, motherfucker. So funny.

"Well, you know what they say," Ewing piped up, even though no one fucking asked his opinion. "That size doesn't matter, it's all about what you do with it."

Christy jabbed a finger at Ewing. "And that is very true." She nodded emphatically.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, my internal screaming becoming higher pitched by the minute. "I still don't know why you all are here."

Ewing smirked at me. "Well, Lasky sent the three of us here to do security detail for the important Sangheili dude, which is this guy." He jabbed a thumb at Thel. Yeah, thanks, Ewing. I got that. "And when we got here a little bit ago, your mother told us we were probably most likely to find him at your room."

I was going to kill my mother. Seriously. I was going to kill her. Maybe I would kill both my parents. Being an orphan didn't sound so bad.

Thel apparently saw the expression on my face and said, "That is interesting. She sent me here because she informed me that my UNSC security detail was part of Adams's team, and surmised that the first thing you would all do is stop by to talk to Adams."

Oh, last name basis? That's what we're on? Fine. I raised an eyebrow at him. "So my mom's just fucking with all of you, now? That's great. You guys are really in for it."

Christy looked at me, wide eyed. "Dude." She held her hand out. "Your mom scares the shit out of me more than you do."

"Definitely explains a lot about you. That, and the fact that you probably grew up without a father figure." Greg spoke up.

Goddamn him and his goddamn penchant for psychoanalyzing people. "Thanks, Greg. I appreciate the professional opinion I don't remember asking for." I loved the guy, really. He was great. But I really didn't fucking want his opinion.

"Arbiter!" Someone called from down the hallway to our left. We all turned to look.

Turns out, it was Captain Lasky.

Oh, boy. Now it was my turn to humiliate someone. I threw a look at Ewing, who was giving me the "don't even fucking think about it" glare.

"Captain Lasky!" I said, brightly, smiling.

He smiled back at me. "Good to see you in one piece, Adams." He then turned to Thel. "Arbiter, I see you've mostly met your security team. Who seems to be standing around doing an awful lot of talking and not a lot of guarding." He raised his eyebrows and looked around at all of us.

"I was just giving them the rundown of what happened, and finding out what they know and how well it matches up to what Vale and I found out down here." I said, still smiling.

I saw Thel roll his eyes.

Keep your damn mouth shut, 'Vadam. Keep your mouth shut and you may stay alive. Not because my team will keep you safe from Kal, but because if you shut the fuck up, I won't kill you.

"Good. I could use some of that information myself." Lasky nodded.

I jerked my head back to my room. "Maybe we should move somewhere...less conspicuous?"

Lasky smiled. "Good idea, Adams."

As we filed into the room, I noticed Lasky put his hand on Ewing's back as he walked in behind him. Ewing's face went the reddest red I've ever seen human flesh go. You go, Ewing. Get some.

I stood in between Vale and my beds, Christy sat down on my bed next to Greg. Ewing, seeing an opportunity, sat down on Vale's bed and, much to his delight, Lasky sank down next to him. Thel stood across from me, almost staring me down.

I took a deep breath. "So you know that Uul is the one holding Kelly, right?" I looked around at the group.

Thel did a double take. "What?"

I rubbed my forehead. "Let me just give you a rundown of what I know. Lasky sent me here because the UNSC intercepted some intelligence that there was a plot to assassinate-" I stopped. I almost called Thel "that asshole", but realized that would probably look incredibly bad in front of a high ranking commanding officer. So I coughed and went, "-uh, the Arbiter." instead. I took a breath, told myself to fucking get it together, and continued. "The information they received detailed that Kelly-087, the Spartan that had been sent here on a totally different mission that I was not privy to the details of, was being held by those in charge of the assassination plot in order to keep the UNSC from getting involved. However, upon arriving here and having Uul..." I sighed. "...who happens to be my cousin, come to me and express a desire to mend a very rocky relationship between myself and him, I learned from Uul that he knew nothing of an assassination plot, and he had acted on his own to hold Kelly here as a means to lure the Master Chief to Sanghelios to face him in some sort of fight for revenge. I wasn't clear on that, and nor did I care, because I figured humanity's greatest hero could hold his own against one wimpy Sangheili who couldn't even manage to tear my arm off at one point."

Thel snorted. "He was perfectly capable of tearing your arm off. The reason he did not succeed is because I stopped him. You are welcome."

I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly. "That's not relevant, but my arm thanks you. Just my arm." I retorted, giving him a sassy look. Thel just shook his head and rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. I noticed Lasky looking back and forth between us, frowning.

"Anyway." I decided to continue before Lasky could start asking questions I didn't want to answer. "Uul came to me and admitted all this because he really does consider the Arbiter a friend and an ally and realized that the relationship between myself and him could never be rebuilt on a foundation of lies, so he decided to be honest. At which point, I told him to contact the Infinity and let them know that Kelly had nothing to do with the assassination plot, at which point, clearly, you all were sent to try and keep the Arbiter from being assassinated."

I stopped. Something had suddenly dawned on me. Anyone plotting to assassinate Thel would never be so careless as to casually let the UNSC pick up that information. There was no reason that they would find out. Especially the Infinity. Unless someone wanted the Infinity on Sanghelios.

I took in a sharp breath.

"Kasey, what is it?" Ewing was leaning forward.

"Kasey, talk to us." Christy said, also leaning forward. Those two recognized the "oh shit" look on my face.

I suddenly looked around, an expression of horror on my face. Lasky and Thel were trading looks. Greg, Christy and Karl were all staring at me.

"Captain." I said suddenly, looking at him. "You have to go. You have to take the Infinity and you have to go. Right now."

Lasky stood up, my urgency propelling him to his feet, apparently. "Why, Adams?"

I took a deep breath. "Whoever is planning this would never be so stupid as to let the UNSC catch wind of what was going on unless they wanted the UNSC to send reinforcements. You should take the ship and leave."

"Oh fuck, you're right." Greg said, slowly standing up too. He threw a look at Lasky. "Sorry about the language, sir."

Lasky shook his head. "No apology needed. I think that kind of language is perfectly appropriate in this instance." He looked at Thel. "You should probably take a walk. Get out of here for a while. Just in case something goes down while I get the Infinity out of here."

Thel nodded. "I have a place in mind." He leveled a look at me. "I will take Adams with me." He glanced at my teammates. "The rest of you should remain behind, so as not to look like I have left."

Buuullllshhhiiiitttttttt.

Bullshit.

He just wanted to get me alone.

Christy just raised her eyebrows. "Yes sir, Arbiter." She said, giving him a skeptical look.

He just glared at her.

Watch it, boy. That's my best friend. Hoes before bros. Or whatever.

Lasky bid Thel goodbye, patted Ewing on the shoulder, and left.

I just grinned at Ewing. "Not sure what you've been doing these last twenty four hours, but it looks like you've gotten a little friendlier with the Captain."

Karl put his hands up. "I have done nothing. Nothing at all."

"Yeah, right. You took out Locke, Buck and Frederic-104 in the training exercise, all headshots. All while they were moving." Christy snorted. "Nothing, my ass."

"Nice." I said, impressed.

Karl shrugged. "It's how I do, bitches." He then glanced at me. "You should probably take the important guy and leave now."

I sighed. Christy smirked. Greg shook his head.

This would be fun.

The place Thel had in mind was somewhere we both were incredibly familiar with. There was this incredible set of cliffs that jutted out between Nradaman and Vadam. There was a small cave at the top of the cliffs that allowed you to have the most breathtaking view. The cave was on a ledge that was filled with soft grass and a shitload of wildflowers. The cliffs looked impossible to scale, unless you knew the way up there. And the only way you could figure out how to get up to the top was by risking your goddamn life.

Guess who figured out how to get up there? That's right, the one who constantly did shit without thinking about it. It was my safe place, the place I went to when I wanted peace, when I wanted calm, when I wanted to be able to be alone with my thoughts.

I'd only ever shared this place with one person. And I'd only shared it with him one time, the day before I left to join the UNSC. I hadn't been back up there since.

But here I was, again. I sat cross legged in the grass, waiting for Thel to get his sorry carcass up there. I remembered the way up like I was seventeen all over again. Thel had to watch me and try to follow me up. It was harder for him to get up there, because he was much larger and bulkier than I was. I was a physical specimen of dexterity and skill. He was just your basic bitch Sangheili.

Or maybe I was just better at scaling the cliff since I'd been up there literally hundreds of times. Whatever.

I leaned back on my elbows as the large Sangheili came into view, breathing heavily from exertion. "About time. What took you so long?" I asked, playfully.

He just glared at me.

I shrugged. "Whatever. Be mad at me, I don't care."

He sat down next to me and slowly breathed out. "I'd forgotten what the view was like up here."

"Me too." I said.

The cliff overlooked a valley, lush and green. There was an immense field of green, rolling hills that seemed to extend forever towards the horizon, immense and ongoing, yet evoking a feeling of calm. The wind picked up and died away, bringing an intermittent cool to the place where we sat. The sun was sinkng low in the sky, lighting up the valley with the warm glow of a sunset fire.

My breath caught. This place was incredible.

I laughed. "I think you're pretty safe up here, right?"

Thel parted his mandibles in a smile. "I would think." He then chuckled. "Unless I say something wrong and you throw me off the cliff."

I grinned. "Well, I doubt I could lift you."

"I have seen you angry, Khase, and it is a terrifying sight, one which leaves no doubt that you are capable of the kind of strength it would take to throw me off this cliff."

I laughed softly and shook my head. "No matter how angry I get at you, I wouldn't throw you off a cliff." I shook my head again. "No way."

"I mean that much to you?"

I turned to look at him, studying his face. "Of course you do. Why would you even have to ask that?"

Thel looked away from me and out towards the valley. "Khase, you have carried yourself through your life with the kind of independence that isn't usually seen. You do not need anyone."

I opened my mouth to protest, but didn't get the chance.

"Let me speak." He said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It is not that you give the impression of never needing anyone, it is that you don't. You what it takes to carry yourself as far as you need to. You do not require companionship and support to succeed. When you ask for companionship and support, it is because you want it, and you want those you ask it from to be a part of your life, not because you require it." He shook his head. "I do not know where you get that from. It is not from your mother, and it is certainly not from your father."

I touched his arm. "It's from you." I said, quietly.

He looked at me, searching my face. "Is it? I do not think-"

I shushed him. "No, it's my turn to speak." I slid my hand down his arm and grasped his hand in mine. "You were the one that taught me that. You taught me I had what it took to achieve whatever I wanted in this world, and the only companionship I should seek is from those I wanted it, not from those who I felt I couldn't succeed without. That's how you are, too. You don't need anyone. The people you surround yourself with are people you respect, trust and who you want in your life. Not people who you depend on to sustain you."

He gripped my hand. "You have grown into someone not even I could have imagined you to be." He studied my face, a strange look in his eyes. "You are bold. You are unafraid. You have dropped into the depths of hell and saved lives. I and many others have fought in wars, fought in places where we were certain we would die fighting our enemy. You have been put into wars, not to fight, but to heal. To save. You have willingly faced gunfire and blood in order to save the lives of those such as I. For the warrior, it is difficult to maintain focus in the heat of battle, difficult to focus only on fighting and killing. You have had to face fighting and killing all around you, yet have the presence of mind to focus on bringing soldiers back from the edge of death." He shook his head. "I cannot even imagine the kind of resolve it takes to do that."

I shrugged. "It's not that hard."

He gripped my hand more tightly. "But it is. It is far easier to take life than to give it. I, and others like me, only take. You give."

I shrugged again, feeling a little embarassed at what he was saying. "It's whatever."

Thel's grip on my hand lessened slightly. "Khase, you are the kind of person I have never known before in all my years. You are strong. Your strength is not the kind that is physical, it is mental. There is nothing in this world that has managed to break you. You are amusing. I do not remember a time in your life that you have not managed to amuse me, even when you are at your most irritating." He played with my fingers. "You are passionate. You are protective. You will do anything in your power to look out for those you have chosen to care for. You fear nothing." He stared at me. "I have never seen you cower. You are absolutely fearless. You have stared death in the face, and you have laughed." He shook his head and chuckled. "I will never forget the day Uul tried to maim you. You simply tried to fight him off, never pleading or begging, never crying. After I had stopped him, you looked up at me, your arm attached to your body by a few sinews, and you laughed." He intertwined his fingers with mine. "You laughed and you said to me that you were glad he had severed enough of it that it barely hurt. You were holding it close to your body, and you smiled up at me, and thanked me for stepping in. You told me that you'd have probably thrown up if it had been completely severed." He used his other hand to stroke my fingers. "I don't know how you had the presence of mind as a child to react that way. You were not in shock. You simply did not feel fear."

I stared down at our hands, fingers interlocked, not knowing what to say.

He turned slightly, and started to weave his free hand into my hair. "And that pattern of fearlessness has continued into the rest of your life. You are intimidated by no one, not even I." He laughed. "Perhaps I am not entirely truthful. You seem intimidated by your mother. But whether that is genuine or simply to placate her, I do not know."

"Oh, no. It's genuine. She terrifies me." I assured him.

He laughed again, leaning towards me, his head against mine. He was so close, I could feel the heat radiating off of him. I felt totally at peace, yet my heart was threatening to jump right out of my ribcage.

"You're pretty fearless yourself." I said, trying not to let my voice betray my slamming heart.

"Am I?" He murmured, turning his head so his face was in my hair.

"Yeah. After you got the mark, you willingly went to face what you thought was a death sentence. That's pretty fearless."

"Hmm." Was all he said.

I moved my head away from his and leaned mine on his shoulder, readjusting my right hand, the hand that was locked into his. "That was the reason I decided to join the UNSC." I said softly.

He stiffened slightly. "What do you mean?"

I didn't speak for a long moment. "When I learned you had the mark...I was so angry. It didn't matter to me what you did. There was nothing you ever could have done to deserve that. They had said you were sentenced to death, and I was so, so angry." My voice caught and I stopped to allow it to steady. "I held the Covenant responsible, whatever is left of them. So I knew that I would do something, anything, whatever it took, to obliterate them. To wipe out the remnant of whoever was left of those that had done that to you." I reached my left hand up and gently ran a finger over the rough scarring of the mark that was still on his chest, even after all these years. "I vowed I would join the UNSC, and if I couldn't kill them myself, then I would work tirelessly to make sure they wouldn't manage to hurt anyone else." My voice caught again, and I found myself unable to speak.

Thel let go of my hand and put his arm around me, holding me. His other arm came up and he grasped my head, pulling me closer into him. "I did not die. There is no need for revenge."

I shook my head, pressing my face into his shoulder. "You don't understand, Thel." I whispered.

"What don't I understand?" He asked, softly.

"If it's within my power to make sure no one causes you to suffer or does you harm the way they tried to before, I'll anything. Anything." I whispered fiercely.

He gently ran his hand over the side of my face, pulling it up towards his.

The kiss was gentle. Oh, so gentle.

I'd allow him this super emotional moment, and then I was going back to that mega asshole I always was. I could only do tender moments for so long.

He pulled back and looked at me. And then he laughed. "I can tell from your expression that the moment has passed."

"Yes, it has!" I said, raising my eyebrows at him. "I have a twenty four hour limit on how much tender emotional bullshit I can do, and you pretty much exhausted my limit in a few minutes. So." I smacked him on the chest. "Go you. You got all of it."

He laughed and tightened his arm around me. "Thank you, Khase. I am honored you chose to spend your 'tender emotional bullshit' on me."

"You're welcome, big guy. Don't expect it to become a regular thing."


	9. Chapter 9

**Author Note: This is a filler chapter. Nothing really great happens here. I'm drunk again. Why are you all still reading this?**

I was impatient. How much time were you supposed to spend on someone who was, for all intents and purposes, your lover? Like, were you supposed to give them all you had? Were you supposed to just drop everything to spend time with them? I hoped not, because I had some seriously important shit to do. And I was still fairly new to this whole romance thing. Maybe I could get away with some newbie fuck ups.

I shifted a little bit. Partially to adjust my position, because Sangheili arms are heavy. Like, super heavy. Obnoxiously heavy. And, also, because I had shit to do. I wasn't going to engage in any more emotional bonding. That part was over. Emotional bonding was reserved for times when I didn't have important shit to do. If the Arbiter couldn't deal with that, then he had picked the wrong bitch.

I cleared my throat and stood up. "Well, I'm going to go back to that god forsaken place that spawned my bitch ass. I'll see you later."

I'm very good at tender, romantic goodbyes. In case you couldn't tell.

Thel pulled himself up and looked at me. "Khase, why would you go back to Nradaman?"

"I have some unfinished business there. You know. I think I left my favorite t-shirt there. The black one."

He just gave me a look. "Is that it?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"You aren't going back there to talk to your father?"

"I thought it was pretty clear the t-shirt thing was a euphemism for 'I need to go talk to my sperm donor', but maybe I was mistaken on that."

"You speaking to him will only cause you to feel more negative emtions. It will not be productive."

What, was he fucking Greg now? Why was everyone so intent on telling my that my actions were caused by my daddy issues? Fucking hell.

"Yeah, well, I disagree. Nice talking, but I gotta go." I turned to leave. I didn't get very far, though, because he grabbed my arm.

"Khase. Why do you insist on running from me?"

What, so this was going to be about that now? Someone fucking kill me. It's not like I could tell him that I had it on very solid suspicions that Kal 'Nradaman was a seriously bad dude, because that would require a very long explanation that would make me sound like a straight up psycho, so he was left to whatever conclusion he could come up with, and apparently this was what he had come up with. Someone just kill me. Right now. Push me off this cliff and end my misery. Please.

I turned back to face him, my arms folded. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Why do you run from me?" He asked again, searching my face as if that would give him answers. It wouldn't. I have a magnificent poker face. It comes from being a battlefield surgeon. You don't really want your patient to know that this is the first time you've resected someone's bowel in a non-medical environment. My training exercises didn't have actual Covenant snipers, so you have to really make up for that with neutral facial expressions. If you're an egoistical maniac, like me, you learn to have a permanent intense, brooding expression that conveys you're a skilled professional that has a troubled past and that they should have confidence in your abilities but wonder what you've been through. I lifted my chin, slightly, really exuding that confidence and that troubled past thing.

Thel stared at me for a moment, then rolled his eyes. "You cannot fool me with that tragic expression."

God fucking damnit.

"What do you mean?" I asked, staring off into the distance. If I was going to go for the tragic facial expression, I was gonna go for it hard. Go big or go home. There was no going home. This tragic facial expression was going big, all the way.

"Stop deflecting and answer my question. Why do you run from me?" He was embracing me now, his hands on my lower back. I was still staring off into the sunset, as tragically as I could manage.

Finally, I gave in. "I'm not running from you. I'm UNSC. My first duty is to them, to what they want me to do. And what they want me to do is find out about Kelly and the plot to assassinate you. That's it."

"That is an excuse, and a pathetic one at that. You have been distant towards me in such a way that you never have been before, and all after I have expressed what my true affections towards you are."

Fucking hell. I've been distant because I'm 100% sure the shithead that played a part in conceiving me, the shithead who he trusted, was stirring up trouble on Sanghelios and I was trying to get all this shit sorted out and he was making it complicated. Maybe if those 'true affections' had come at a more opportune time, I wouldn't have been so distant.

I'd also just like to add, in my defense, that if someone is trying to kill a Kaidon, that it's really for the best not to get attached romantically to said Kaidon, in case they do actually end up being killed. It's common sense. Don't do the romance with someone who might end up dead. That's not a good idea.

I threw my arms up in a shrug. "Okay, well, sorry I'm kind of new to this. It's weird, and its distracting me from what I came here to do. Maybe after this is all over I'll be less weird about it. Okay?"

"Khase. You-"

"You know what? I really have to go. You stay here. Contemplate my running and whatever else it is you think about. I have to go."

Fuck if I was going to get involved in some kind of "what are we" conversation. Fuck that. Fuck all that shit. No way.

I managed to get the fuck off of that cliff faster than I ever had in my life. Nothing like the threat of a meaningful conversation to motivate a girl into getting the fuck out of somewhere.

After that, I'd headed straight for the place where I was born. Where I'd grown up. It was time. I was ready to face the one individual who had to be behind all this.

I'd headed straight for the quarters that belonged to Kal 'Nradaman. My mother had been an idiot and managed to let on who it was that had sired me. Way to go mom. Gold star in secrecy for you. As much as I'd like to chalk it up to me being an absolutely brilliant child with stellar deductive reasoning, she was just incredibly obvious about it.

I'd busted in the door like I owned the place, because, let's face it, I was about to. I don't care how great of a warrior my sperm donor is. I don't care how violent or how scheming he is. All I care about is getting answers before I inevitably meet an untimely demise due to my own blazing stupidity.

"Kal!" I yelled, looking around.

He, of course, was simply seated on on a couch, as if he'd been waiting for me. Why is it that you always find the most evil people in the most casually relaxed of positions? Do they practice being casually relaxed? If so, I'd like someone to teach me how to do that. Because I was always constantly on edge. I'd like to be casually and evilly relaxed whenever someone came to see me. Just once, I'd like someone to find me casually relaxed on a sofa relishing in my own evil plans. Of course, that would mean I'd have to come up with an evil plan. Which I haven't shown an affinity for so far. I've been winging my whole goddamn life so far. One of my talents is impulse decisions. It's worked out so far, but for just once I'd like to have some kind of plan that mandated someone come find me sitting casually relaxed on a sofa.

"Yes?" Kal answered, still looking evil and casually relaxed. Damn him.

I stormed over and stood in front of him, arms folded, my most impressive and intimidating glower on my face. "We need to talk."

"About?" He was still unruffled. My best 'I'll kill you, motherfucker' entrance couldn't even throw him off his cool. God fucking damnit. Clearly, this is where I had inherited the fearlessness that Thel had mentioned earlier.

"About Kelly. About the plot to kill the Arbiter. About your scheme for the Infinity to show up." I tilted my head. "Care to fill me in?"

"Of course." He put whatever he was drinking aside. Christ, it was like I was in a goddamn James Bond movie. "What do you wish to know?"

"Everything." I scowled as impressively as I could. Nothing. I got nothing from him. God fuckin damnit all to fucking hell, why couldn't I intimidate this asshole?

"What sort of everything?"

Were we going to play this game? Where I had to go into specifics? Why couldn't he just start monologuing like a normal person? Why did I have to be specific about this?

"Where's Kelly?"

"I imagine she is being retrieved by a drop team at this moment, and if not, very soon."

"What?" I was confused. Wasn't he holding her somewhere? Or was it Uul? I didn't know what the fuck was going on anymore.

"She was never in any danger. At least, not in any danger from an attack. It can be dangerous to have no access to a communications relay when you need it."

"What?" I was probably begining to sound like a broken record, but who gives a shit?

Kal simply shook his head and chuckled. "She came here on an assignment. She completed her assignment, then found that she couldn't contact anyone for a few days. A minor setback. For her, at least. For the UNSC, it was a major concern."

"So you're telling me that all you did was take away her ability to communicate with anyone?" I took a step closer. "How do I know you're not bullshitting me?"

"What reason would I have to?"

"What reason?" I threw my hands up. "Seriously? You're going to make me ask all these questions? Why not just tell me what you're up to?"

He lazily extracted himself from the couch he had been sitting on and stood up. He was an impressive height of eight feet, two inches tall. "And what is it, exactly, that you think I am up to?"

"You want to kill Thel. Probably rekindle the war with humanity and destroy any progress he's made in making peace with humanity. Fuck up my mom. Fuck me up. I don't know. Why don't you tell me?"

He bared his teeth in what I guessed was a smile. "Khase, I have never wanted anything but the best for you. When you were born, I was so proud. I had a Sangheili child that showed so much promise of being a great warrior."

"There's a pretty big 'but' in that little justification, isn't there?"

"That there is. Your mother means little to me, as I'm sure you have noticed. She was, and remains, nothing more than means of amusement to me. She assured me that no...unintended consequences would arise from our relationship. Imagine my surprise when you came along."

"That's me. Always a surprise." I took a step forward, my arms still folded. "So you resent her because of me?"

"Hardly. I resent her maiming you as a child and making you an ugly little human child, the ugly little human child she'd always wanted."

Excuse the fuck out of you. I'm not ugly. Well, maybe I am, but you don't get to say that. Fuck you.

"Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment."

"Khase. You showed so much promise as true Sangheili warrior. But your mother changed your appearance and encouraged you into a shameful profession. I was never consulted. My opinion on the matter was never considered. And now, here I am: forced to recognize a child that I never wanted altered."

Wow, he just kept going with that. Was this supposed to make me feel sorry for him? Because I still just really wanted to kick the shit out of him. Shameful profession? Being a doctor isn't a shameful profession. It's a lucrative career with many opportunities and he can suck my fuckin dick.

"Okay, so we've established that I'm ugly. That's great. Moving on. Why try and assassinate Thel?"

He simply chuckled and moved away from me. "I don't know how you haven't caught on to the fact that I detest humanity and all that that implies."

I took a moment to think about that. "So you want Thel dead because he wants an alliance with humanity?"

He looked back at me. "Of course I do. If your kind had simply given up and died, we wouldn't be where we are. Your war hero convinced a brilliant war strategist and powerful shipmaster that the Covenant were wrong, and that all the species needed each other as allies." He shook his head. "It would have been better if he had been killed honorably after receiving the mark. Now, the mark is a symbol of pride. And it disgusts me."

Calm your jets, Khase. Be cool. Chill out. Beating this dude senseless can come later. Right now, you need information. So just relax. Find your zen.

"You fucking piece of shit. You're nothing but a goddamn piece of shit. Someone should've killed you and thrown your sorry carcass to the wind years ago. Fuck you."

Way to keep your cool, Khase.

He turned back to me, studying me, calmly. "Know this, Khase. Sangheili do not need humanity. We can find our way without them. They want peace with us because they fear us. We can use that fear for our advantage."

"What?" Back to the broken record for me.

"Join me, daughter. Join our cause. Reject humanity and come back to your Sangheili roots. Reject the honeyed words of the Arbiter and his false promises. Reject the lies your mother has told you. Become one of us. We are a proud people who can succeed on our own merit. We have no use for the likes of humanity, who will turn on us the moment they feel our friendship is not valuable to them. Help us take their most powerful starship. Help us wipe out the heroes of their war. Humanity has no love for a half breed such as you. But your home planet does. We can use Annabella as a means to negotiate for them to leave our world and never return. She is important to them. As are you."

I shook my head, attempting to process all that I'd just heard. This dude was an absolute certified nutcase. Greg would've had a field day with him. "What? How am I important?"

He approached me and grasped my upper arms. I fought off the urge to shudder. Showing weakness was not ideal in this situation. He'd started ranting, and I needed to keep him going.

"You are important because..." He stopped, looking at me. And then he laughed, cruelly. "Your mother and the Arbiter have said nothing to you, have they?"

"About?" I demanded, not liking where this bullshit was going.

He simply chuckled and moved away from me. "Of course they wouldn't. They do not care for you. They never have. You're simply means to an end for both of them."

I put my hands on my hips. "Okay, I'll bite. Let's say neither of them care about me. Why would they pretend that they do?"

"Your mother is a diplomat, sent to live on this planet to assist the Arbiter in all relations between humanity and Sangheili. How useful, then, to have a child by a Sangheili warrior and secure her place with the Arbiter and those in command in your human society. The Arbiter would do incredibly well by both humanity and his own people by attaching himself to the one who is seen as a symbol of peace, the child who is both Sangheili and human."

I choked back a laugh. "A symbol of peace? What?"

"Those who are of a mind such as the Arbiter's see you in that way. They see you as a symbol that the alliance is secured, that humanity and Sangheili will work together to accomplish great things. That peace is assured."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Me being a symbol of anything but what not to do with your life is really hard to believe." Then I folded my arms. "So you're trying to tell me that my mother and the Arbiter are only trying to use me to further their own goals and that I should join you in your plot to cut off any ties with humanity and kill anyone who disagrees."

"For lack of a more concise description, yes."

"Fuck no."

He turned back to look at me. "Is that your answer?"

"Yeah. My answer is fuck no." I cocked one of my hips to the side in a posture exuding as much attitude as possible. "You're insane, your life goals are stupid, and I'm not going to be a part of any of it. If I'm going to participate in something stupid, it's going to be stupid that I came up with, not someone else's stupid."

"Khase."

"Don't fucking 'Khase' me. Why does everyone fucking 'Khase' me all the time, like I'm just constantly saying dumb shit? I'm not. Shut the fuck up."

Kal put his hands up in a submissive gesture. Which was good for him, because he didn't want to get me started on that tangent. "My daughter, all I wish to ask you is that you consider who truly has your best interests in mind."

"I'm pretty sure it's the UNSC."

"The same UNSC that wants to use you as propoganda for their program to create an entirely new species of Sangheili/human hybrids?"

"What?" I stared at him in disbelief. Now he just had to be making shit up.

"The UNSC wishes to use you as a means to show people that an entire new race consisting of Sangheili and human is a possibility."

"You're making that up. There's no way. They put me as part of an ODST Team. ODST Teams have one of the highest mortality rates in the entire military. Why would they put me in an ODST Team just to die if they want to use me for some ulterior motive?" I scoffed.

"It is much easier to idolize those who are deceased than those who live." He said, quietly.

I shook my head, trying to get a grip on what the fuck he was trying to say to me. This whole conversation was just confusing as fuck. "Let me see if I understand this: You want me to reject any and all parts of me that our human, because the UNSC and everyone who pretends to care about me really just wants to shamelessly use me to further their own personal gain."

"That is exactly true."

"Yeah, you're a fucking jackass and I think you're full of shit. Thanks, but no thanks." I turned around to leave. Partially because I was done with his bullshit and partially because I was now intending to go confront a few people who I'd originally thought cared about me.

"They are using you, Khase. Your mother, Thel 'Vadam, the UNSC. They are all using you."

I whirled around, facing him, my posture combative, my facial expression dangerous. "But you know who's not using me? Karl. Christy. Gret. Fabian. They aren't. And they're far more important to me than you, my mother, the Arbiter or anyone else will ever fucking be. So whether what you're saying is true or not, I still have them. And I always will. Because unlike the rest of you motherfuckers, they're here for me, not for what I have to offer them." And at the end of that little speech, I turned and stormed out the door.

I don't remember much of my trip back to Vadam Keep. All I really remember is getting back there and yelling that someone needed to get me Vale, and stat, or bad things were going to happen.

Miraculously, Vale had showed up. And boy, did I have an earful for her.

"Vale, I shit fucking swear to whatever deity exists out there, that if you don't tell me the fucking truth, I will end you in the most painful of ways."

Vale just rolled her eyes and sat down on her bed. "I always tell you the truth, oh dramatic doctor."

"Fuck off." I flopped on my own bed. "I just had a great and meaningful conversation with the piece of shit who spawned me."

"Good god, Adams. Why would you fucking do that?"

"Because I enjoy inflicting pain and bullshit on myself. That's not the point. The point is, he told me that I'm being used by my mother to secure her position here, and I'm being used by Thel to secure his position with the UNSC and that the UNSC plans to use me as the shining example of what happens when you try and create a new species."

Vale groaned. "Please don't tell me you believe that."

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Well, first of all, your mother doesn't seem conniving enough to come up with that kind of plan. If anything, you were an unfortunate accident that she's had to deal with through the years."

Thanks, Vale. That warms my heart.

She kept going. "I mean, raising you had to be hell. Have you taken a look at yourself lately. Jesus. I wouldn't wish you on any parent. There are so man easier ways to secure a position in the UNSC. Raising you? Fuck if anyone would play a long game with that."

All that really nice stuff that Thel had said about me being brave and fearless and all that? Yeah, the good feeling from that was all gone. Fuck you too, Vale.

She still wasn't done. "As for Thel, thinking he's only using you for his own personal game is totally fucking ridiculous. There are so many people he could use for his own personal gain. Dealing with your ass is way more trouble than any personal gain is worth. I mean, my god, you're like the most awkwad and emotionally closed off person I've ever met. If he was gambling on you having feelings for him to, that's a really shitty gamble to base a plan for personal gain off of. If there's anyone in this universe who could ruin all that by being a stone cold bitch, it's you. So I'm pretty goddamn sure his feelings for you are genuine." She stopped. "You still haven't told him about the sword, have you?"

"I have no idea what you're referring to." I mumbled, pretending like I didn't know what she was talking about.

"You still haven't told him you stole a weapon from him, have you?"

"Vale, we are already discussing a very important topic. Getting sidetracked won't help us any."

"I'm going to take that as a yes. As far as the UNSC goes, I'm pretty goddamned sure Lasky would've said something to someone if some brass was going to try and use you for some weird freaky science shit. I'll admit, I've heard that they've got some special use for you in mind, but I can promise you it's not as the shining example of an interspecies unintentional pregnancy."

I sat up. "What have you heard? Tell me."

"I'm not sure if I'm allowed to."

"Vale, I swear to whatever deity exists, that if you don't tell me, I'll beat it out of you. And then I'll keep kicking the shit out of you until you regret the moment you hesitated in not telling me, because we both fucking know that you're going to tell me anyway."

"Calm your shit, Adams. I'll tell you. God, you're the most violent doctor I know."

"I try."

"Shut the fuck up and let me tell you. They're going to try out a new program, a program where they send medical personnel on drops. You know, minimize casualties and all that. I heard it originated from some doctor who had this affinity for dropping with ODST Teams on special ops recovery missons, and they decided that it would really benefit the UNSC if they had medical personnel on every drop. And considering that you're one of the best out there, they're gunning for you to head up the program. But it all depends on how your first ODST drop goes. So don't get too cocky too quick." Vale sat up too, and looked at me. "I'm serious. I heard this in an incredibly unofficial conversation. So don't say anything and don't let on that you know."

"How unofficial? Like, pillow talk unofficial?"

"Fucking hell, Adams. Just drop it."

"That's a yes if I ever heard one. Who'd you bang to get that info?"

"It doesn't matter."

"So you totally banged someone to get information. On me."

"No-well-maybe. It doesn't matter. The point is, your father is bullshitting you."

"There's another point, and that point is that you totally think I'm important enough to bang someone to get information on me."

"Who says the intent was to get information on you? Maybe you just came up in the conversation."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Fuck off, Adams."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author Note: We're getting near the end of this thing. Second to last chapter, I think. Let's hope this chapter brings back the hilarity that the first few chapters gave us. I'm still not sure where this story is going. Thank you all, for sticking with me and Adams through this.**

"Please tell me you're actually going to talk to the appropriate individuals before doing anything idiotic." Vale was looking at me, her eyebrows raised.

I scoffed. "Does that sound like me?"

She sighed. "No. Not even a little bit."

"I am, however, going to go talk to our favorite security detail team and see what's up."

"Why aren't you talking to your Sangheili Stud?"

"First of all, that's a shit nickname. Myself, I call him Daddy-"

"There is something very wrong with you, Adams."

"-and second, I don't want to talk to him right now, but I need him alive so I can throttle the truth out of him eventually."

"You don't think he'd tell you the truth right now?"

"No, I don't. People with ulterior motives never tell the truth. And I have no way of knowing whether he has an ulterior motive. So I'm just going to have to assume he's lying."

"That...makes sense. And I hate you for that."

I shrugged casually. "I try to make sense sometimes. Not too often, but occasionally."

"It's always a shock when you do make sense, so it's good that it's a rare occurrence. Anymore than that and a black hole might spontaneously open up where your stupid fucking head is and suck us all into oblivion."

"Was that rude? I stopped listening halfway through, so I'm not sure."

"Go talk to your favorite bunch of fuckheads, asshole."

"Language, Vale. Don't be vulgar."

I left while she was still trying to come back at me with something witty. I found fully armored and weaponized Hart in front of Thel's room.

"What's up, fucker?" I asked, walking up to him.

"Oh, the Arbiter's moping because you peaced out on him. Christy's in there under the guise of being a body guard, but she's really trying to explain to him how you have the emotional range of a large turd and the tact of one too, and that he shouldn't be too disappointed at how emotionally unavailable and aloof you are."

I blinked. "Well, I've always said I'm a piece of shit. Eh?" I elbowed him, which prompted him to roll his eyes at the shitty joke (pun absolutely fucking intended) I'd just made.

"Oh, not-funny-daughter-of-mine. We need to talk. "

I guess I visibly flinched, because Greg just raised an eyebrow at me and mouthed, "mommy issues too?"

I mouthed "shut the fuck up" back and turned to face the bitch who's vagina I crawled out of. "Yeah, mom? What's up?"

"In private. Don't give me that face."

I quickly adjusted my facial expression, threw a "help" look at Greg, who just looked away. What a fucking jackass. If Christy were here, instead of focusing all the time and attention that should've been towards me on the Arbiter, she'd have saved me. But Greg? Greg was useless at saving me. Fuck you, Greg.

"What?" I asked, when we were far enough away for her satisfaction.

"Your father has nothing to do with the missing Spartan."

I tried not to react, but I could feel my eye twitching. "And you know that...?"

"He told me."

"Of course. Because people are always truthful all the time."

"He told me after I heard him talking to someone else about it. I didn't catch most of the conversation, but I heard him say it was a simple misunderstanding involving a communications issue."

So my mom had been eavesdropping on my conversation with Kal and had completely and fundamentally misheard. People in denial are so cute, except when that denial is totally fucking with my ability to manage a clear problem.

"Mom, that wasn't at all what he said."

"And how would you know?"

"Because that was me he was talking to. And you know what else he said?" I leaned forward, anticipating the moment of truth that was about to go down. "He also said you only had me as a means to secure your position of importance with the UNSC. And that the Arbiter was in on it. And had his own ideas for securing a position with the UNSC."

She seemed taken aback. "W-w-why would he say that?" She laughed nervously. "That's absurd."

"Is it?" I said, softly, leaning closer, glaring into her eyes.

"Why would I-"

"Have a child by a Sangheili warrior thus guaranteeing yourself a permanent position as ambassdor on this planet because you were to raise said child here due to Sangheili customs?" I stepped back and folded my arms. "I don't know. You tell me."

"That's not why I had you, Khase."

"Isn't it?"

"No, it isn't!" She sighed. "Why would you think that?"

"Because it's a pretty solid plan. Unfortunately, anything you say to me right now I'll be highly suspicious isn't the truth. People always lie when confronted about something. So you might as well just leave me alone for a while until I figure things out."

"Khase, don't-"

"Bye, mom. Fuck off, thanks." I walked away, livid. It didn't matter at this point whether it was true or not. I was tired of the "he said she said" bullshit.

But that didn't mean I would join Kal. It just meant that I was going to walk the fuck away from all of them. If the UNSC wanted to use me for some freaky bullshit, they were welcome to try. If there's one think Kasey Adams can do, it's raise hell when someone tries to fuck with her. And I was about to.

Best case scenario, my dad was a lying, manipulative bastard who was using my mom and Thel as means to his end and trying to convince me to join him in his bullshit plan to break Sanghelios away from humanity. Worst case scenario, everything he said was true and I'd have a lot of hell to raise. But I could walk away from my mother and Thel with no problem. I'd made it this far without them just fine. I could do it, no problem. I'd still have my ODST Team. Those bad bitches had my back. And even if they didn't? I had me. I'd always had me. That's the only person I needed.

No more Khase 'Nradaman. Fuck that bitch. It was Kasey Adams from here on out. Fuck this planet, fuck my family, fuck the Arbiter, fuck it all. I was straight up done. Get me back up to the Infinity and on a drop somewhere I could kill things. Fuck it.

But first, I had to do something.

I had to kill my father.

But to do that, I'd need some help. And clearance.

I walked past Greg, who stepped back. "Whoa. Adams. Everything okay?"

"No. I'm going back up to the Infinity."

"Why?"

"On business. There's something I need to do."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I practically charged onto the bridge of the Infinity. Forget protocol. Forget that bullshit. I didn't have the time or the patience for that.

Captain Lasky was standing with Palmer, Locke and Master Chief Pretty Officer.

"Adams?" Lasky looked incredibly confused. He had no idea that I was coming.

I approached the group and stood at attention, hands behind my back. "Requesting permission to assassinate my father, sir." I said, loudly and clearly.

All activity on the bridge slowly halted. All eyes turned to me. The entire bridge became silent.

Lasky blinked at me. Palmer's face took on an almost excited expression, like this was the best thing she'd heard in a long time. Locke's face twisted into a look of brooding confusion. The Chief's brow furrowed slightly, and he tilted his head a little bit. They all just stared at me for a minute.

"May I ask why?" The Captain asked, approaching me. He was handling this request well, I had to give him that.

"For conspiring to sever diplomatic ties between humanity and Sangheili. For disabling Spartan Kelly-087's comunication relay for the purpose of deceiving the UNSC into thinking she was in danger. For plotting violence against a UNSC ambassador. And, finally, for attempting to persuade a UNSC soldier into treason." I lifted my chin and stared him in the eye. "In the light of those acts, I am requesting permission to assassinate Kal 'Nradaman."

Palmer's face went to an "OH SHIT, SON" expression and she stared at me like she was really seeing me for the first time. Locke dipped his head, looking like he was trying to hide a smile. The Chief did the same, except I caught his smile and slight shake of his head before he managed to hide it.

Lasky studied my face for a long minute. Then he smiled. "Permission granted. I'm curious to see how it goes." He turned away from me and went to walk away.

"That makes two of us." I replied. "Thank you, sir."

"Adams?" He said, turning back to me. "Let me know if you need backup."

"Yes, sir."

"I trust you'd send me as backup, Captain?" Palmer looked at him with a "motherfucker, you'd better send me, if there's a way for me to watch this shit go down, I need to" expression on her dimpled face.

"Of course." Lasky said, almost nervously.

Ah, poor Ewing. It was pretty clear Lasky was wrapped around Palmer's finger.

I saluted and took my leave of the bridge. As I was leaving, I heard Locke say, "Remind me never to piss her off."

That's right, motherfucker. There are a few people that need that reminder, and I was about to give that reminder to them.

"Adams!" I heard a familiar, welcoming voice.

It was Fabian. She crushed me into a hug. "Are you done? Did you finish your mission?"

I noticed the rest of the team who wasn't on Sanghelios behind her. "Hardly. I had to come here to ask for permission to kill my father."

Fabian held me at arms length and looked at me, her eyes narrowed. "Are you okay? Because that's fucking crazy."

"Welcome to my life. I also fucked the Arbiter. Don't mess with me."

I relished the various looks of shock coming from the rest of the team. That's right. Adams is the baddest bitch of them all, and don't y'all forget that.

Fabian stepped back, raising her hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Ohhh, shit."

"Shut up. I love you, but shut the fuck up. I'm out of here. I'll be back. Right now I have to go kick ass, take names, kill my dad and fuck a legend. Adams out." I threw both my middle fingers up and walked away.

"Jesus Christ." I heard Johanson mutter. Whether it was because I was fucking cool or fucking ridiculous, I didn't know. Either assessment would be accurate.

Back to Sanghelios for this bitch.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On the way back, I'd contacted Karl. "Find me Kal. I'm gonna fight him."

"What the fuck, Adams. No. Don't do that."

"You can't stop me. Find him."

"Okay, caring friend time is over. I really want to see this. He's currently in Vadam Keep, meeting with some other Swords and the Arbiter."

"Perfect. I'm on my way."

"Fuck him up, Adams. Fuck him up."

"I plan to. Adams out."

I'd manage to practice kicking doors open on my way to where I was going. So by the time I got there, I was prepared to make an entrance.

I got to the large wooden door that led to the room where that piece of shit was holed up, pretending he wasn't a fucking sketchy ass bitch.

I kicked the door as hard as I could. It didn't budge, and I limped in a tight circle, swearing. I tried the handle. It was locked.

Those motherfuckers didn't want anyone coming in. It was Kal's idea, probably. Good thing I had something up my sleeve.

"Kasey, this is an intervention." I turned and saw Christy, Karl and Greg standing there, as well as Vale.

"An intervention for what?" I demanded, looking at the four of them.

"Lasky told me what you were doing. And you're insane." Vale said, stepping forward. "Who tries to kill their father without the help of their friends?" Ewing, Christy and Greg all nodded in agreement.

Awww. My cold dead heart warmed a little. I think my eyes almost teared up. I felt slightly touched. If I was going to die trying to kill my father, at least I was going to die with my friends watching. At which point they could avenge my death, while being dramatically distraught. Yes, I liked this very much.

"Thanks guys. That means alot. Except the door is still locked."

Vale held something out to me. "It doesn't have to be."

It was the energy sword I'd stolen.

I grabbed the sword and activated it. "Fuck yes."

"Fuck yes!" Christy shouted, punching her fist in the air, then raising her weapon. Which was some scary looking huge shotgun thing. She'd probably made it herself, which meant it might explode.

"Fuck yes!" Shouted Greg, raising his own normal looking weapon.

"Fuck yes!" Ewing also shouted, raising his sniper rifle.

"Just get the fuck in there." Vale sighed, waving a hand at me.

I started slicing my way through the door, just enough for me to reach through and unlock it.

Then I kicked it open with all the force I could muster.

Which was too much, because it flew open, hit the wall and bounced back to slam shut again.

My "friends" all fought off snickers as I glared at them and kicked it again, a little more gently. It slammed open the way I'd intended it to the first time.

Thanks to my fuck up the first time, everyone in the room was already staring at the door as we walked in.

I looked around and my gaze landed on Kal 'Nradaman, who was opposite the Arbiter and my mother. I leveled the energy sword at him and shouted a phrase that was sure to clearly communicate my intentions.

"Fight me, you little bitch!"

Immediately, most of the Swords in the room assumed fighting stances. Almost thirty energy swords were activated. My mother stared at me in shock. My father looked at me calmly.

Thel just closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. He knew me well enough to expect this kind of bullshit from me.

"And why would I do that, Khase?" Kal asked, still calm. Still evil.

"It's Kasey, you piece of shit. Kasey Adams. Fuck you and your bloodline. Fuck you and your little plot to get rid of the peace treaty between humanity and Sangheili. Fuck you and your plan to use my mom as a barganing chip to get them to sever the alliance. Fuck you and your plot to kill Thel. Just fuck you in general. Come fight me, asshole. Or are you too scared to?" I stuck my tongue out. "Are you scared that the child has surpassed the father? Fucking coward."

I spread my arms out. "Come at me, bro."

If I was going to have any last words, those were the ones I wanted it to be.

Kal activated his energy sword. "So be it. I offered you a place by my side, Khase, and I see now you have refused it."

"You-" My mother charged at him, but didn't get very far before two Sangheili warriors grabbed her and held her back. I should have known some of them would be on his side. Probably most of them.

"Just you and me. None of your shitty backup. None of my flawless fighting machines. Just you and I. Father and daughter. To the death." Fuck, now I was risking that being my last words. Goddamnit, why did nothing ever go the way I wanted it. "Come find me in the hallway, bro." That still had the word 'bro' in it. It'd have to do. Whatever.

He came to me, his sword glowing.

I readied myself, fully expecting to die.

But if that was going to happen, there was one thing I needed to do first.

"I love you guys. All of you." I called out, waving a hand at my backup. And then I looked at my mom. "You too."

And then, I finally made myself look at Thel. "And I love you, too." I said, quietly, looking at him.

"Do you?" Kal hissed. "Well, that is unfortunate." He made quick gesture, and suddenly five Sangheili warriors had surrounded Thel and grabbed him. Thel briefly struggled, but was soon forced down to the ground.

"You love the Arbiter, do you?" Kal snarled, looking at me gleefully. "Perhaps there is a choice to be made, then. Either you join my cause, or the Arbiter dies."

FUCK. THE ONE THING I HAD COME HERE TO PREVENT WAS LITERALLY SOMETHING I HAD JUST CAUSED. FUCK ME AND MY GODDAMN SENTIMENTALITY. JUST FUCK IT ALL.

Well, I was really in a dilemma at this point. 1: Tell Kal the truth, that I loved Thel, at which point he would keep threatening Thel's life in order to manipulate me into doing whatever he wanted, which Thel would never allow and would honestly probably do something fucking stupid to keep that from happening, like sacrificing himself. 2: Lie and tell him I didn't love Thel like that, just as a friend and the person I was in love with was someone else, at which point he'd probably kill Thel anyway because Thel was of no use to him. 3: Pretend it was myself that I was in love with, and being that I was an egoistical maniac, that was totally believable. But that still had the problem of Thel being killed for being useless.

Being me, I decided to go with option #4: The worst option.

"I do love him. I love him passionately. But he's Sangheili, and I reject my Sangheili roots, so I have no choice but to be with my human lover- Karl." I reached out a hand towards Karl, dramatically.

Vale pinched the bridge of her nose, Christy looked at me like I was fucking stupid, and Greg just put his whole fist in his mouth to keep from laughing. Karl, being the fucking awesome friend that he was, and also a fantastic actor, reached out to me dramatically, too. "Baby. Don't love him. Love me. We can make so many beautiful human babies together."

Cool the jets on your sarcasm, Ewing.

"You're the only one I've ever truly wanted." I said, as passionately as I could manage, looking at him with what I hoped Kal would think was passionate love.

From the floor, Thel gave me a half lidded "are you fucking serious" look.

Kal looked vaguely confused, then he seemed to come to a decision. "If it is not the Arbiter you truly love, then you will not mind if he is dead."

I threw my arms out. "What kind of logic is that? He's been my bff for like, ever. Why the fuck would I just be totally cool with you killing him just because I'm in love with someone else? It's bros before hoes, dude. Always."

"Don't call me a hoe, you fucking slut!" Karl shouted at me, momentarily breaking the act of passion we had been partaking in.

At this point, Thel just looked like he wanted them to kill him already, so he wouldn't have to witness the clusterfuck this was devolving into.

"I only want you for your huge dick!" I shouted back, throwing him a rude gesture.

"Who doesn't?" He shouted back, throwing the rude gesture back at me.

Jesus fucking Christ, Ewing. Tone it down a few notches.

But what I'd been hoping for had happened. Kal was so completely fucking confused by our whole exchange, he'd let his guard down.

In one swift motion, I threw my energy sword at him, throwing knife style.

This was a move I'd practiced, because I'd noticed that Sangheili warriors never do it. They only fight with it while it's in their hand. It's like they never realized that energy swords were a versatile weapon with many uses. I'd put so many holes in the walls of all the rooms I'd stayed in, which had raised many questions but I'd always feigned ignorance. But all my practice came in handy. The sword whirled twice and hit Kal square in the chest

He looked me in shock, then down at the energy sword lodged in his chest, then dropped to the ground, convulsing.

"Kal!" My mother screamed, in agony.

I felt bad, for like half a second. Yes, I'd just killed the Sangheili warrior she'd been madly in love with, but it was ultimately for the best. Now she could get it on with a Sangheili who actually wanted her back and wasn't just playing a long game to use her for his own nefarious purposes.

"Khase, why?" She cried at me, falling to Kal's side, cradling his head in her arms.

I'd feel bad about this later, I was sure. But at this current point in time, I was riding the high of successfully killing my own father.

Until he pushed my mother away and staggered to his feet.

Oh, fuck.

He charged at me, energy sword raised, mine still lodged in his chest.

I threw myself towards the left, at the ground.

There was a horrifically painful and burning sensation in my right side, and I couldn't keep the scream of pain from leaving my mouth.

"FUCK!" I shrieked, again. Kal had ended up behind me. I was weaponless, as my sword was still lodged in his chest, and I had no defense against him. I turned to face him and saw him raise his sword to finish me off. My life flashed before my eyes. It was shitty and pathetic. Then something that sounded like an explosion rang out, and I saw what looked like dozens of small holes fill Kal's chest.

"Don't you fucking touch my best friend! Fuck you! Fuck you and everyone who's with you! I'll kill you all!" It was Christy who was screaming now. In rage. In fear. In agony. Because she had just witnessed her best friend fucked up with an energy sword.

The world spun for a moment, and I fell to my knees, hands grabbing my right side. Through the haze, I saw Kal struggle to his feet again.

A single shot echoed, the sound exploding through the air.

"Fuck you!" Was the shout that followed.

It was Greg. He wasn't in any way skilled with a sniper rifle. But somehow he had managed to not only snag Ewing's rifle, but use it to score a perfect headshot.

Kal's lifeless body dropped to the ground.

I gasped for air, hands gasping my side, trying to assess the damage. What I guessed was my intestines were falling out through the hole in my side, and only my hands were keeping them from falling on the floor.

"Thel-" I choked out, collapsing onto the floor my left arm propping me up.

He was at my side. Apparently, the Sangheili warriors had thought better of betraying their Arbiter and had let him go.

"Khase, my Khase. I'm here. I won't leave you."

"Don't you fucking die on me, Adams. I shit fucking swear to whatever deity exists out there that if you die on me, I will come find you in the afterlife and kill you again myself. Don't you fucking die." It was Vale's voice that pushed it's way into the fog that was my conciousness, harsh and full of emotion.

"I need-call the Infinity. Someone-I need a-"

Darkness overtook me.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author Note: Well, this is it. I don't know about you, but I think I'll miss Adams. Maybe I'll resurrect this character someday. We'll see. But if that day doesn't come, I sincerely hope you enjoy this last ride with her. Thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed, you're the reason this shitshow kept going. I appreciate you all so much.**

Pain. Lots of pain. There was a metric fuckton of pain. Someone kept poking me, and it fucking hurt.

"Quit fucking touching me, or I'll rip out your esophagus and beat you to death with it!" I said.

Or, I tried to. What actually came out was, "Nghuhghgh, ghughg. Nughhhhhhh."

My eyelids were so heavy. Fuck, they must have me pretty goddamn sedated. I tried to open my eyes, but with no luck. They just woudn't.

"For the love of fuck, please stop drugging me. This not being able to open my eyes shit is going to drive me up the fucking wall, stop giving me drugs." Is what I meant to say. What came out was, "Nghnughn fuck ghghgnghg drugs." Which still got the message across, I think. Fuck those drugs.

Some time passed. I didn't know how much. It could've been weeks, days, hours or seconds. I hoped it was seconds. But after that time passed, I managed to open the heavy ass shit that was my goddamn eyelids and look around.

Fuck, the room was bright. It was clearly a hospital room, judging by the blinding ass flourescent lighting. God fucking damn, who's idea was it to make hospital rooms so fucking bright. Fucking hell.

There was some old hag standing off to the right side of my bed, looking through some kind of tablet. She was wearing a white coat, so she was probably a doctor. She had chin length white hair, and looked straight up haggard. God, I hoped I didn't look like that when I got older.

"Fuck." I actually managed to speak a word. Of course, the first word I spoke was a swear word. That's how I fucking roll, bitches.

The hag looked over at me, and set the tablet aside. "You're finally awake. I wasn't sure how long it would take for you to wake up."

"How long was I out?" I tried to ask, succeeding only in mumbling incoherently. Goddamnit Kasey, get it fucking together.

"I'm going to assume you asked me how long you were out, and answer that question accordingly. You've been in a medically induced coma for almost two weeks. I decided to try and bring you out of it today, and it looks as though it was the right decision."

Two weeks? Two fucking weeks? What the fuck? People could have died in the two weeks I was snoozing away in this fucking bed. Fuck that. I was going to go find them.

I shifted my position and was assaulted by pain. But I was a tough ass bitch, and I could power through that. I sat up.

"Don't get out of bed. I'll put you back under if you do. You're not fully recovered enough to leave here."

This old ass bitch was pissing me the fuck off. Who the fuck did she think she was, telling me what to do?

"Fuck you, I do what I want." I couldn't have chosen a better sentence to be the first one I was able to say clearly. Someone write that shit down. The first clear thing Kasey Adams says after coming out of a medically induced coma is "fuck you, I do what I want". Put it in the history books.

The old bitch turned to me and gave me an evil eye. "No, you do not. Not while you're under my care."

I coughed to clear my throat. "Whatever." I moved, grimacing, to swing my legs off the bed.

She came up to me and got right in my face. "Do not leave this bed."

"And who are you to think you can stop me from doing that?" I said, being the asshole that I always had been.

"I'm Dr. Halsey."

I froze.

I stared at her, my eyes wide. Then, I slowly scooted back to my original position, and laid back. I coughed awkwardly. "You know what? I think I'm just going to lay here and not go anywhere. That sounds like a great idea."

The corner of her mouth lifted slightly. "I agree."

My head was pounding. My mouth was dry. My whole body hurt like fucking hell. I coughed again. Coughing hurt. It hurt so fucking bad. It felt like my entire torso was being ripped open. "Um. Dr. Halsey? Why are you my doctor? I'm literally just your every day, basic bitch medic. Why bring out one of the most renowned doctors in UNSC history to treat me?" I was really fucking curious. One of the only other people Dr. Halsey had taken as a patient in fucking decades was one of her Spartans. So why me? It's not like I was special enough to warrant that kind of treatment.

She was silent for a long moment. "I owe the Arbiter, for doing a great many things to keep John safe. I owe Captain Lasky for the same. I owe Fireteam Osiris for bringing him back to me. In light of that, when the Arbiter, Captain Lasky and Vale all contacted me, asking for my assistance, and especially when John himself also put in word in your favor, I couldn't say no." She studied me. "There are many people who are in various positions of importance who think very highly of you. That originally sparked my curiosity. After looking through your accomplishments, I was very glad I had done all that I could to ensure you lived. I have not seen a doctor of your prowess in a long time. For the most part, you saved your own life. You would have died on Sanghelios, had you not had the presence of mind to have your friend run to your room and retrieve a medical device that the UNSC no longer accepts as medical equipment. I, myself, am curious to know where you got it from."

I realized she was referring to when I had briefly come out of unconciousness to yell at Christy to bring me my staple gun. She'd done it, and I'd just stapled as much of my side together as I could manage before passing out from the pain. No one was really supposed to know about the staple gun. The UNSC thought it was an inhumane form of treatment, but they were a load of fucking idiots. That staple gun, though pretty inhumane, could save someone's life. Whoever invented it had been a fucking genius.

"Uhh..." I hemmed for a moment, not sure if I wanted to tell her where I'd gotten it from.

"Tell me where you got it."

"It was this random girl. She found me before I went on a mission. I don't know who she was. This was years ago. She just walked up to me and said, 'this might be useful to you' and handed it to me. I've had it ever since. She was blonde. Kind of weird. I don't know. She just gave it to me. I've used it a lot. It's really great for combat situations where you can't drop and give someone stitches. So, yeah. I did it to myself."

Dr. Halsey shook her head slightly. "She gave it to you. It was like she knew." She sighed. "That device is the only thing that saved you. If you'd had to wait for the Infinity, you'd have been dead long before it came. It was good thinking on your part. You were well prepared. And the placement of the staples was impeccable. Minimizing trauma and maximizing effectiveness."

"Thanks?" I said, cautiously. The most talented, calloused scientist/doctor in the known universe was complimenting me. Pardon me if I was a little bit weirded out by that.

She waved hand. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that you're awake. And alert. And in light of that, I am now obligated to contact certain individuals who have a special interest in you being alive."

I raised an eyebrow. "And who would that be?"

"The Captain, for one. He gave me specific instructions to let him know when you were concious. The other is the Arbiter. And far be it from me to stand between the Arbiter and..." She stopped and studied me for a moment. "...whatever you are to him. Someone of importance. Just how important I neither know nor particularly care about."

"What about my ODST Team? Where are they? What's up with them?" Goddamn, was there any water around here? Fuck.

"They are alive. That is all I know. I have been here, overseeing your care, and not taking an interest in military operations that do not concern me." She turned away from me. "Now, if you will excuse me, I will inform Captain Lasky of your current status, and have him contact the appropriate individuals who also have an interest in your wellbeing."

She left. It was about damn time. That bitch freaked me out. She was like the walking dead, emotionless and methodical. I didn't want to spend anymore time with her than I absolutely needed to.

I leaned back and closed my eyes. I was already bored. Being stuck in a hospital bed was fucking boring. I felt like I'd been awake for five minutes, and I was already bored. Goddamn.

"Adams, you'd better be fucking alive." A voice penetrated my boredom. A welcome and familiar voice. The voice of my bff, my main squeeze, my favorite hoe.

My eyes flew open. "Christy!"

She let out a scream and jumped onto the bed with me. "Oh my god! You're alive!"

"Yes! I'm alive! And I'm fucking tired of being here!"

"I'm tired of you being here too!" She went to hug me, then stopped, and gently patted my shoulder. "I don't know how much drugs they have you on, but you look like you hurt, so I'll just pat your shoulder."

"Thanks, I appreciate that. I feel like I got run over by a tank. I fucking hurt."

"You should totally show me your side. Is it gross?"

"I don't know, I haven't looked."

"Yoooo, you should straight up show us your side. I bet it's super gross." Ewing skittered in, looking around nervously. "Dr. Weirdo isn't here, is she?"

"Nah, she left to do important shit. And fine, I'll show you my side, but you'll have to move. Y'all can't see it if you're on my left."

They moved around to the other side of the bed, like a true captive audience. I grabbed the hem of my hospital gown and started to gingerly move it up.

"Oh, shit. You're about to show them the wound, aren't you?" Greg walked in, looking far too interested. What was this, a show? Should I be offended they weren't throwing $1 bills at me?

"Just don't re-open the wound while you're showing it to your adoring fans. That's definitely something I could see happening to your stupid ass."

Now Vale had joined the party.

"Are you guys done? And in prime viewing position? Because I'm only doing this once, because Vale is right, in that ripping open my wound to show it to you assholes is something that's totally likely to happen to me."

There were various affirmations of readiness from the peanut gallery.

I pulled up the gown. And looked at it myself.

It looked exactly like a major wound that had been stitched shut. No blood and guts. No infection. Just an almost foot long wound that had been cleaned and stitched shut. For a doctor, this was literally the most anticlimactic thing you could see after a near death experience. For the rest of them, though, it was apparently super gross and totally new.

They all spent a good minute making commentary about the grossness of the wound and how awful it looked. Ewing asked if he could poke it.

"Fuck no, you can't poke it. I'll kill you if you do. It fucking hurts."

He scoffed. "You can't kill me. You probably can't even get out of that bed."

Being the absolute fucking blazing moron I am, I totally had to correct him. "Uh, yes, I can."

"Yeah? Prove it!"

"Don't prove it. Adams, stay in the fucking bed. Don't be a blazing moron."

It was like Vale knew exactly what I was going to do.

I struggled my bitch ass out of the bed, swearing the entire time, until I was standing up in front of Ewing. "See?" I said, trying to sound as confident and badass as I could, through gritted teeth and a strangled voice. "I can get out of bed."

"Great job, Adams. Wonderful. You've proved to all of us that you can get out of bed. Fantastic. Please get the fuck back in it before you pass out and actually die."

Vale, the voice of reason. Too bad I'd already resolved myself never to listen to her.

"Whoa dude. You really could kill me if I poked your side. Goddamn, you look like shit in that hospital gown."

"You know what? No wound poking required to kill you. I'm just going to kill you right now." I took a step forward.

It was at this exact moment that Dr. Halsey returned with Captain Lasky.

Lasky looked incredibly concerned, and what little life had been in Dr. Halsey's eyes immediately dissipated, and she looked at me like I was the biggest fucking idiot in the galaxy. Which I probably was.

"Hello, Captain Lasky, sir. As you can see, I am completely fine and ready to go back to duty." I said as brightly as I could manage, my voice still sounding strangled through all the pain I was in.

Captain Lasky just closed his eyes for a moment, clearly hiding an eyeroll. Dr. Halsey didn't even make an attempt to hide hers.

"Forgive me, Dr. Adams, if I don't buy that." Lasky said, looking at me with an incredibly unimpressed expression.

I shrugged. "It was worth a shot."

"No, it wasn't. That wasn't even halfway convincing. You're a fucking idiot. I hope they don't give you any pain meds so you pay for being a complete fucking idiot."

Ah, what a best friend I had. Truly, the most kind and caring individual in my life.

"I agree."

Thanks, Vale. Fuck you too.

Captain Lasky cleared his throat, and I noticed that Ewing had gone completely rigid, standing at attention, his face a little pink. Haha. Sucker.

"Dr. Adams, I've been asked to inform you that your work on Sanghelios in ridding the planet of Kal 'Nradaman has lead to an outbreak of a civil war, between those who would end the alliance with humanity, and those who would keep it. Fortunately, those who would end the alliance with humanity seem to be a small enough majority that the civil war on Sanghelios won't last long. We offered to take your mother off world, but she declined. As I had last heard, she is there assisting the Arbiter in quelling the resistance. I have also heard that she is engaged in a serious relationship with a Sanghelios warrior, Ren 'Vadam, who is a fine and upstanding warrior that is fiercely devoted to the Arbiter and to an alliance with humanity."

All I could muster up was a groan. Goddamnit, mom. It's been two weeks.

Ewing broke his rigid posture to jeer at me silently. Fuck you, asshole.

"Captain, I am glad to hear of all of that. Don't you think Ewing looks especially crisp in his standard issue BDU's?"

Christy choked on a laugh, Greg bowed his head, Vale laughed outright and Ewing shot me a glare.

Captain Lasky looked vaguely mystified for a moment, then cleared his throat. "Yes. Uh, Ewing. You look very sharp."

Fuuuuuckkkk youuuuuuuuu Ewing.

Lasky shook his head, understanding that something was going on and he wasn't privy to the inside joke, but didn't particularly care what that joke was, and then he continued. "I have also been asked to inform you that the Arbiter is leaving his troops in the command of said Ren 'Vadam and is on his way to the Infinity to see to your status personally."

"Really? Because he doesn't need to be here. I'm chill. Everything's great. Dr. Halsey has been, like, fantastic. He should stay and finish the fight that I definitely started, and everyone knows I started." I shot a look at my friends. "Everyone knows I started that fight, right?"

Vale rolled her eyes at me. "Yes, everyone knows you started a civil war on Sanghelios."

"Good. Since no one seems to remember any of my medical accomplishments, I guess I'll go down in the history books as that bitch who fucked the Arbiter, then started a civil war on Sanghelios. I'll take it."

There was a collective sigh, some eyerolling from my friends, a choked laugh from Christy, a facepalm from Vale, a glint of amusement in the eyes of Dr. Halsey, and a headshake of genuine amusement from Captain Lasky.

"There are worse things to go down in history as." He said simply, putting a hand over his mouth.

I can take the professionalism out of anyone. Literally anyone.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to get back to the bridge. I'll check on your status later, Adams. I'm glad you're still with us."

Captain Lasky really meant it. He was such a great guy. Always doing the right thing and all that shit. No one in the UNSC was really his equal. God. I was so lucky to have him as my commanding officer. He also had a great ass to watch as he left your hospital room. Just one of the many perks of being stationed aboard the Infinity.

Dr. Halsey left too, citing some reason I didn't listen to, but nodded in response to like I'd listened. Christy, Ewing and Greg all left after her, because Fabian had briefly walked by and yelled at them to get their asses somewhere to something important, told me she'd be back later and I'd better be alive then, or so help her god, and it was just me and Vale left alone in the room.

I sat back down on the bed and looked at her. "You know, I'm going to miss your sorry carcass when you inevitably get sent on a mission. If you get back from that in one piece, and I'm still alive by then, we should go get a drink sometime. And you know what? Even if you're in several pieces, I'll still get a drink with the multiple pieces of you."

"Adams, that might just be the most touching thing you've ever said to me. I sincerely hope your flaming stupidity keeps you out of trouble long enough for that to happen."

I opened my mouth to say something savage in reply, but stopped when I saw her stiffen, grow serious and stand at attention. I turned towards the door and saw none other than humanity's greatest hero.

"Chief. Sir." Vale said, sort of awkwardly. I was totally going to mock her for that later.

"Spartan." He said, nodding at her. "Would you mind leaving Adams and I alone?"

"Of course not, sir." She nodded back and hightailed it out of the room as fast as her augmented legs could carry her. Bye, Vale.

I turned to the Chief. "Heyyy, Chiefy Wiefy, what's up?"

God, could I get any more weird? I hoped not.

He just raised an eyebrow at me.

I coughed. And immediately regretted it. That fucking hurt.

Thankfully, he ignored my obvious pain and awkwardness. "I came here for several reasons. One was to assess your status, and relay said status to an old friend. Another reason was to inform you that said old friend isn't someone I'll stand by and let you-"

I held up a hand.

Nah, that's a lie. I waved my arms around like a goddamned spazz.

"Okay, if you're about to tell me in a really roundabout way not to break Thel's heart or what the fuck ever, I can tell you right now that's not at all where I was going to go with that? Okay? So your Spartan heart can rest easy because, first of all, I've known him way longer than you have. I know you two have been through some shit and you're like close and whatever, but the point is that he's been around me way longer than you've been around him and I'm not going to fucking-" I stopped as he started laughing. "What?" I demanded, annoyed.

He held up his hands. "I get the idea. You're not just involved with him for a power play. Your offense at my unspoken implication is proof enough."

"Uh, I wasn't offended. Just letting you know that I'm way more important to him than you are. Just so we're clear on that."

He just shook his head at me.

"Whatever. Don't look at me like that. What was the other reason you came in here?"

He studied me for a long moment. "You and I have much in common. More so than we share in common with other people, I think. And I've come to the conclusion that you're worth getting to know. So I've come to offer such a thing."

"What, you want to be friends?"

"More or less."

"What does that even mean, Pretty Officer?"

Whoops. I had not meant to let that slip. Oh well. No taking that back now.

He just gave me a slightly mystified look. "What I mean is, given the events of the last few days, and how you've handled yourself, I'd be honored if you ended up by my side fighting for the safety of humanity."

Well, that was as high a compliment as I'd ever get from the Master Chief. And I'd take it. I'm not going to snub a compliment, especially from someone who was that hot.

What? I'm taken, not dead. He was totally hot.

"Yeah, same. I'd do an emergency bowel resection on you any day."

What the fuck, Adams? Is it even possible for you to carry on a normal conversation? Apparently not.

He looked slightly confused, but chose to just accept what I'd meant as a compliment. "Get well soon, Adams." He said, nodding at me, then leaving the room.

Goddamn, that ass. Christ. Take a picture, frame that shit and put it on my wall. What an ass.

I heard some heavy footsteps, a slight scuffle as two people apparently tried to get out of each other's way, then the Chief said, "Arbiter. Good to see you. I won't keep you."

Aw, shit. Now I had about 2.5 seconds to prepare myself for a "what are we" relationship talk. That wasn't nearly enough time for someone as emotionally stunted as me.

I wasn't prepared, not even remotely, for the rush of emotions that cascaded over me as his hulking frame filled the doorway.

I couldn't even manage to get his name out of my mouth. All I knew is that the last time I'd seen him, he was probably wishing to die so that he could forever escape my bullshit, and that he'd spent the last two weeks wondering whether I'd live or die, and god that must have been hell, because it'd be really sad to lose me.

So I did the thing that people do when they're super calm and collected and casual.

I just held out my arms and ignored the mortification that came with the tears that started inexplicably leaking out of my eyes.

He was at my side in an instant, sitting on the bed next to me, wrapping his arms around me. "Khase, don't cry."

"I'm not." I sobbed, like a complete fucking wimp.

His grip on me tightened. "Yes, you are."

"I'm NOT!" I said, trying to control my goddamn motherfucking emotions. Fucking goddamn motherfucking shit on a stick, Kasey. Get a fucking grip.

I gripped his back, pushing my face into the groove between his neck and his shoulder. "I'm not crying. This is just...a complication as a result of almost dying. I'm fine."

"Of course." He said, his deep voice soft and soothing.

It took me about a solid ten seconds to get that fucking grip, which was ten seconds too fucking many. "Did you miss me?" I asked, my voice muffled against his body.

He laughed, softly. "Yes, I did. I was worried about you."

"Good." I said, not moving, still gripping him.

He smoothed my hair, which I'm sure was just a fucking disaster. Goddamn. I didn't even have any time to look mildly presentable. Just straight out of a fucking medically induced coma. I'm sure I looked like hell.

"I have worried about you for what seemed like forever." He said, quietly, inhaling a breath against the side of my head. God, no. Don't do that. My hair probably smells like hospital and gross bullshit.

"Well, you don't have to worry anymore."

"And for that, I am glad."

There was silence for a minute. Then he slowly pulled back from me. No. Don't do that. Just hold me forever. Don't move back.

He studied my face."Khase..."

"Kasey."

He shook his head. "I do not think it possible for me to refer to you that way."

I sighed. "All right. But you're the only one who can call me that. Anyone else does, and I'll fucking gut them like I did my shithead father."

He just shook his head again, amusement lighting his eyes, mixing with the relief that was already there. "Such a fire you have. Violent and adorable, simultaneously."

"I'll take it."

He brushed back an errant strand of my hair that had been sticking to my face. "Khase, I need to ask you something."

"Yes, I fucking love you. If that's what you wanted to know."

He laughed again. "That is reassuring to hear, but that isn't what I meant to ask."

"Okay, well, ask."

He studied me, seemingly debating in his head whether or not he was ready to ask whatever the fuck it was he was going to ask me.

I waited. I fucking hated waiting. I've always fucking hated it. Just ask your question. Stop keeping me in suspense. Please. I deal with suspense about as well as I deal with being forced to lay down in a hospital bed. As in, I don't. I don't deal with it well at all. Ask your fucking question.

"Khase..." He reached out and cupped my face. "Are you mine?"

"Yes." I said, instantly, with no hesitation. That was so fucking obvious. He'd kept me in suspense over that? Seriously?

His grip on my face tightened slightly. "Mine alone?"

Fucking hell.

I responded by grabbing him with both hands and kissing him, as hard as I could, for as long as I could manage without coming up for air.

When I pulled back, I gripped him again, tightly. "I'm yours. Just yours. No one else's. I mean, like, I'm still a UNSC ODST doctor and I definitely plan on having a lucrative career here, doing many dangerous and admirable things, but I'm still yours. I'm the girl who fucked the Arbiter, started a civil war on Sanghelios and then became the Arbiter's girlfriend or whatever."

He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to mine. "You started a civil war? Is that what you're telling yourself?"

"Actually, Vale told me that. But I'm choosing to believe it. Because that sounds fucking awesome."

He just shook his head at me. "Far be it from me to contradict you on something that makes you happy."

"Do I make you happy?" I murmured, unable to keep myself from venturing back into that stupidly sappy shit.

"Blissfully." He murmured back, wrapping me in his arms again.

"Good. Because, same." I said, ever so fucking eloquently.

I was the one that pulled back this time. "I hope I recover in enough time to get dropped onto Sanghelios to help out with the civil war I started."

"Do you?" He asked, seeming amused.

"Yeah. If I do, I'll be sure to make a stop by your place for round two, if you know what I mean." I wiggled my eyebrows at him, then elbowed him. "Yeah? You know what I mean?"

I have never seen someone fight off an eye roll with so much difficulty. Not even Vale.

"I understand your meaning. And I would be more than happy should such a situation take place." He leaned forward and gently enveloped the lower half of my face with his mandibles. "There is not a time or a place that I would deny involvement in such a situation."

"Not even right now?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows again, starting to pull up my hospital gown. "Because I'm down to get involved in that situation, right here, right now."

"You cannot even get out of bed, Khase."

"The funny thing about that is, we can totally do it in the bed. No getting out of the bed required."

He didn't even fight the eyeroll this time, clearly letting me know how he felt about putting up with my shit.

You've been putting up with my shit for years, buddy. And you'll be putting up with my shit for a lot more years to come. Better get fucking used to it.

Kasey Adams was alive and kicking. The universe better get fucking ready for when I was up and running again. Because I had a lot of plans for what I would do with the rest of my life. I was going to be that asshole doctor, the one fucking the Arbiter, starting more wars, saving more lives and laughing at the world while it tried to keep up with me.


End file.
